A New Chance
by Iago96
Summary: After the final battle Harry wakes to find himself....not quite where he expects. What will he make of this new place? And the people in it? HP/SS SLASH
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was early morning. The sun rose blood red, many had died during the night. Too many. Their lifeless bodies were scattered around the Quidditch pitch and Forbidden Forest. But still the battle waged. The entire war had culminated in this one battle. The Final Battle. To the victor went the spoils; the Wizarding world. It all came down to two people. Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, and Harry Potter.

The survivors of the last fifteen hour battle crowded round the two wizards, animosities momentarily forgotten, too absorbed in the scene before them. Close to the front stood Severus Snape. Harry spared a glance for the dour, blood stained man. Snape shook his head at the young man expected to save the Light. No, his friends hadn't survived. It was something he had agreed to do if he had the chance, a promise to a comrade. Harry processed the information in an instant while Voldemort was distracted; everyone he cared for was dead. Ron, Hermione, Remus, Albus….so many...all gone...forever.

Harry knew that it was up to him. It would end here and now. Either way Harry had lost. All that mattered was how he would die and whether or not he could find the strength to save his world from the Dark. The thought bolstered him. He couldn't let everyone down.

"This is it, Tom. Just you and me now. Let's finish this." He called out confidently. His voice was one of a leader, a commander of an army, no longer a frightened child, he had not been that for some time.

"Very well Potter. You have been a thorn in my side far too long. Say hello to your parents for me, boy." Voldemort called back with a hiss.

They drew closer, wands in hand. No one could tell who cast first but the duel began and spells began flying through the air. The remaining Light wizards cast a shielding spell which a few of the Death Eaters helped maintain so that they wouldn't get injured by deflected spells from the duellers. It was impossible to tell who was winning, they seemed evenly matched. They watched with bated breath.

Minerva McGonagall, especially, she had seen her pupils, her fellow Order members fall. All the Light's hope now rested on a nineteen year old boy, barely an adult, yet never a child. Minerva felt a lump in her throat as she saw Harry hit by a cutting hex.

"Crucio!" Voldemort shouted.

Harry's face contorted but he didn't scream or even flinch. Pain was no stranger to Harry. Voldemort's eyes widened minutely in shock but he recovered quickly. Without a waver in his voice Harry cast "Protego". The spell rebounded off Harry's abnormally strong shield and sent Tom flying, effectively breaking the spell.

Minerva smirked in triumph, it had been such a shock to them all when Harry had been able to shield against The Unforgivables. Albus had been ecstatic, thrilled, his protégé could do what no one else could, what should actually be impossible to do. They were called The Unforgivables for a reason, there was no way to block them. Or at least there wasn't until The Boy Who Lived came along.

"Awww Tom you should know better than that. Your nightly visions prepared me for far worse than the Cruciatus. I don't know why you use it when there are so many more effective ways of inducing pain in your opponent. Such as 'sectumsempra', 'ingero poena', 'lubricus tergum' and 'exuro' for example," Harry demonstrated each curse as he spoke its name without a break. The Dark Lord was on the floor by the end writing and panting.

[You will pay for that, Potter.] Voldemort swore in Parseltongue as he threw a curse that inflicted incredibly painful blood blisters to appear on the eyes. Fortunately, Harry dodged it in time.

Watching from the sidelines as always was Snape. He was one of the people maintaining the shield but most of his energy was caught up in watching every move of the two wizards before him. Snape's, believed non-existent, heart clenched painfully every time he saw Harry take a hit, which admittedly wasn't often but was still more often than it should have been. The two had become accustomed to watching each other's back during the war. After Dumbledore had paired them in the Order they had been forced to put their hatred aside. Comradery had eventually taken its place but they had never been friends, there was too much between them for that. For the past two years, since Harry graduated, he had been in training for this moment. 'It all ends here.' Snape thought grimly. He was confident that his partner could do it. He had felt the raw power Harry possessed and it was intoxicating in its strength. If Harry could just get one spell past his old master's shield he would win.

Harry could tell that Voldemort was beginning to tire. He was slower to dodge and deflect spells sent his way. "You're weakening, old man. Maybe you should leave taking over the world to us younger wizards. Take a break. I hear Florida is a lovely place to retire." He sneered. Harry knew from past encounters that when Voldemort was angry he got sloppy with his casting. All he needed was one small opening in his defences and he would finish it. He blocked the flesh peeling curse that had been Voldemort's response to the taunt. Finally he found it. Harry struck as fast as lightening, "Avada Kedava!"

Iridescent green light shot out of Harry's wand only to meet a purple one from Voldemort's. Both wizards focussed all their power into the curses, trying to break past the other. Harry ignored the pain lancing throughout his entire body, blocking it out with the sheer force of his mind. An idea occurred to the young man. He had been studying elemental magic for the past two months and he was almost positive that Voldemort did not know elemental magic. With his left hand he drew the sigils needed to summon lightening; Voldemort was too distracted from holding the spell to notice. It took all his strength to maintain the spell while he summoned the elemental power. When it was ready he flung his hand out at the Dark wizard. Harry had been correct; Voldemort certainly wasn't expecting Harry to use elemental magic. The lightning bolt hit the Dark Lord and burnt him to a crisp. But not before the curse he had cast broke past Harry's Avada Kedava, his power was too drawn up by the elemental magic. He had let his guard down for a split second and now he was going to pay for it.

'No!' Snape acted quickly seeing that Harry was too drained and injured to stop it from hitting him. He dropped his shield, yelling in alarm, "Expelliarmus!" But it was too late. It missed Harry. His spell merged with the Dark Lord's and hit the victorious wizard at the same time. They mutated and wrapped the young man in a brilliant white light. The observers averted their eyes from the figure, but not Snape, his eyes remained riveted. When it finally dimmed the Boy Who Lived had vanished. Snape rushed to the spot Harry had been stood. Unseen by anyone one lone tear fell from the stoic Potion Master's eye and vanished into the soil upon hitting the hard, blood stained ground just before the man's body. Severus Snape finally succumbed to his injuries. It was all over. They had won. But at what cost? What was there left? It was a hollow victory. Severus Snape died.

In his office Albus Dumbledore was startled to sense the wards alerting him to an intruder just outside the Forbidden Forest. Calling his Deputy and Defence Against the Dark Arts professor he set off to find out just who the intruder was.

What they actually found shocked them beyond belief. There, lying on the forest floor, seemingly dead, was a young man; he looked no older than seventeen and would not have looked out of place on a battlefield. He was dressed in pure black battle robes, clutching a wand which was broken in half; it seemed to have been broken when he landed. Blood was pouring out of different wounds all over his body. He had a burn on his left cheek.

"Is he alive?" The Defence professor asked quietly, as though any noise might wake the injured stranger.

Dumbledore cast a rapid spell, "Barely. We must get him to Poppy immediately if he is to survive." The headmaster levitated the wounded intruder into Hogwarts followed by his colleagues.

The headmaster's unannounced arrival in the Hospital Wing surprised the mediwitch but she caught sight of who he was bringing and asked in a stunned voice, "What happened to him?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me, Poppy. The wards alerted me to his presence less than five minutes ago. I do not even know his identity." Dumbledore replied as he lowered his charge onto the nearest bed.

"I'll do what I can. It's amazing that he is still alive from the injuries I can see." She answered wondrously. Poppy went straight to work. First the mediwitch cast a diagnostic spell as she gathered potions she thought might be necessary from her stores; luckily the resident Potions Master had recently replenished them for the upcoming school year. It seemed he would have to make more again. Putting the vials down on the bedside table she glanced at the parchment to see which injury she should heal first. It was already two feet long! She gasped, despite her long career as a healer, as she saw a few of the injuries. The likes of which she had not seen since the last Dark Lord. Snapping herself out of her shock she set to work at repairing all she could.

The first were his vital organs, many were on the brink of failure due to spell damage. It seemed he had been subjected to Cruciatus multiple times. It would be astounding if the poor boy was still sane when, if, he woke up at all. The witch poured potion after potion down the stranger's throat to heal his lungs, kidneys and his ribs along with many of the bones in his arms and legs. Spells were needed to heal the gashes in his chest. He had a particularly nasty slash on his left shoulder which went down to the bone and a burn on his cheek. The mediwitch was running through scenarios for how he could have received such injuries but the only thing she could think of were of the Death Eater torture victims. She could sense that it was his magic that was keeping him alive for the time being. Poppy gasped at the level of power she felt and it seemed as though the wizard was drained as well. 'I hope he gave as good as he got.' She found herself thinking. For the rest of the cuts she needed to apply an ointment after they were clean of infection, the smaller ones would not scar but the larger ones certainly would. Finally, two and a half hours after he was brought to her, she felt her patient stabilise. Breathing a sigh of relief she began to move a more sedate pace. At the end of five hours of meticulous potion applying and spells she fire-called the headmaster to the Hospital Wing.

Albus returned straight away, accompanied once again by the Deputy headmistress and the Defence professor. His first question once it was clear that the young man wasn't going to die just yet was, "Can he be woken?"

"Yes, though there are so many painkillers running through his system I will be surprised if he can even tell you his name. His muscles keep going into spasms; the diagnostic says that it is an after effect of being under the Cruciatus curse for a prolonged amount of time. Albus, I do not recommend this. The boy has been through a lot." Poppy replied in protest. Identity unknown or not this young man was her patient and she was honour-bound to protect him.

The headmaster stared at the small figure now in a white hospital gown lying on the bed. 'He looks so small. Yet I can see the muscle on him. How did he get in such a state?'

"Before you wake him I believe you should see this, Albus. It's my diagnosis…" She handed the parchment to the aging wizard in a final attempt to spare her patient undue suffering.

"Dear Merlin! This boy has had an interesting life." He exclaimed as he read the first page. Poppy had folded it into yearly sections.

"Life? Albus that is only the last year!" Poppy practically screamed at the most powerful wizard in England, perhaps the world. The diagnostic, if left to run, which she had, listed every injury the patient had ever had during the course of their life.

"Dear Merlin!" The Defence professor whispered, peering over the headmaster's shoulder, "What happened to him?"

"The only way to find out is to wake him and ask." Albus said regrettably but with the list of injuries he had to know if the person who had hurt this boy was going to be coming back for him. "Enervate." He cast as gently as he could.

The young man's eyes flickered open. 'Green' the headmaster noted absently. He heard the Defence professor gasp behind him and suddenly realised where he had seen eyes like those before.

Harry woke to the familiar smell of the Hospital Wing and opened his eyes to see, not Snape by his side ready to chide him for his foolishness as usual but the headmaster, Poppy, McGonagall and a man Harry thought looked vaguely familiar. Confused he managed to croak out, "What happened? Did I kill him? Did we win?"

All four sets of eyes were on him then in shock. Kill who? Their gazes were curious and suspicious Harry noted. Finally the headmaster spoke up, "Who are you, young man?"

'Who am I? What is going on here?' Harry's mind was racing, ignoring the pain potions in his system, he was nearly immune to them by now. Suddenly he remembered his last conscious moments. He remembered Snape telling him that everyone was dead. Had Voldemort won? Was this a new method of torture? Harry sent out his magic to asses everyone. Only Dumbledore felt him scan them he noted but the old man did not mention it. Harry had been well taught, this was the real Albus Dumbledore, he would recognise that magical signature anywhere. Harry also sensed that Dumbledore was sincere in his question, "You don't know who I am, Albus?"

"If I did then I would not be asking would I, young man?" Dumbledore replied half amused, half irritated. Who was this young wizard who called him 'Albus'? He had never met him before. He was certainly powerful and Albus could sense darkness surrounding him. Was he a danger to Hogwarts?

"I'm Harry Potter." The boy stated calmly as though it was obvious.

"You can't be Harry! He's dead!" The dark haired professor surprised the recovering wizard by yelling angrily.

The green-eyed wizard sneered at the new speaker, "I think I know who I am. I've been Harry Potter for the past nineteen years. Who are you anyway?" Harry replied condescendingly.

The dark haired man fell silent, simply glaring at him. A slight cough drew Harry's attention back to the headmaster, "That would be James Potter and I am afraid that I agree with him. Harry Potter died eighteen years ago."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Is this some kind of joke, Albus? What is going on here?" The injured man demanded to know. He allowed some of his still returning power to move beyond the shield he had erected three years ago to stop people from always feeling his magic. It flowed over the other wizards. The windows rattled in their frames and a vial or two smashed with the onslaught.

Albus, James Potter and McGonagall all felt the wave of raw power overtake them, taking the air from their lungs for a few seconds with its intensity.

Harry was in shock. His father was alive? "My father is dead!" He yelled.

Anger overtook the terror James Potter was feeling, "I certainly am not dead!" Then he back tracked, "How dare you pretend to be my son? Harry died on October 31st 1981; the whole wizarding world knows that."

"I am Harry James Potter. I did not die on October 31st. My parents did." Harry glared at the imposter James Potter.

He received a glare in return. "You are not my son." James had a look of disgust on his face.

Harry's heart contracted painfully at that statement. Whether he believed him or not this man looked like his father and had just rejected him. Without allowing the pain to show on his face Harry turned to Dumbledore and said, "I was left at the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive in Surrey by you on the night of October 31st along with a letter you had written to my aunt, my mother's sister."

Dumbledore frowned, that did sound like something he would do. He knew that Lily's only sister did live in Surrey. But certainly anyone could find that out if they looked hard enough. There was only one way to prove that he was who he said he was. The headmaster reached into an inside pocket and took out a small tin. Opening it to reveal lemon drops he offered one to the young man.

Harry took it and put it in his mouth. He knew the instant Albus had opened the tin that these were the dosed lemon drops. He felt the Veritaserum take effect. "Go on then Albus, ask me my name. I can't lie."

The headmaster, after looking at James Potter, asked, "What is your name?"

His voice was monotone, a side effect of the truth serum, "Harry James Potter."

"What happened on the night of the 31st of October?"

"Peter Pettigrew told Voldemort where my parents were. He came for us. My father tried to buy time for my mother to grab me and escape but he was no match for him. Voldemort killed him and went upstairs where he told my mum to hand me over and he would spare her. She refused and he cast the killing curse. She fell to the floor. Then he turned his wand on me and cast Avada Kedava but the curse rebounded and hit him, killing his body and leaving me with this scar." Harry's finger pointed out his lightning bolt scar.

Letting all that sink in Dumbledore started on another line of questioning, "How did you get your injuries?"

"There was a battle at Hogwarts. All or nothing this time. I duelled Voldemort, killed him just before I got hit with a mutated spell and woke up here." Harry could feel the Veritaserum beginning to wear off now. "If you have any more questions you'll have to give me another dose, Albus."

The headmaster looked at his defence professor. James Potter was staring at the young man in the bed. "I do not think that will be necessary. Do you James?"

The eldest of the Potter line blinked and seemed to come back to himself, "No. I think I believe him. But those things never happened."

Harry's brain was working overtime, 'Is it possible that we are both correct? In that case where am I? I suppose there's only really one option, could I be in an alternate universe? Snape's spell must have mutated Voldemort's banishing curse. It is conceivable I suppose. Highly unlikely but possible.' Snape would love to know that his theory on alternate universes was correct.' "Dear Merlin!" He breathed, "Albus, I believe I may know what has happened."

The headmaster's eyebrows rose dramatically, "Go on," he encouraged.

"I am Harry James Potter." He stated again, "Because of my mother's sacrifice his curse rebounded when he tried to kill me and separated his soul from his body. The Wizarding world believed him to be dead and I was named 'The Boy Who Lived'. That at least is how it happened in my reality that night. Voldemort returned when I was fourteen and continued with his _revolution_. This morning I killed him for the last time. I made sure that his vile soul was sent to the deepest darkest part of hell where it will remain for the rest of eternity. I know that is true. Yet I also believe that you never lived any of that and that I actually died. In this world that is. Not my own. In mine you died. I think I am in an alternate universe." Harry finished his story taking in the stunned faces of his speechless audience.

"How old are you?" James Potter asked softly.

Harry understood that the man seemed to have forgotten his age during the story so he didn't reply sarcastically, "Nineteen, almost twenty."

"Dear Merlin!" Poppy exclaimed. She looked at the parchment her diagnostic had been written on, by now it had finished his whole life's injuries. It certainly seemed that he had lived through everything he described and more. She was stunned that her patient was so lucid not to mention still awake. 'This is a remarkable young man.' She thought.

"I find myself believing you, though you will not be offended if I require further proof?" Albus asked. Harry shook his head with a smirk. "This does not happen every day. Another reality, my goodness." He continued. "Will you submit to taking a parentage potion? Just to make sure."

Harry nodded, "Of course." He answered agreeably. He noticed that Albus did not apologise for dosing him with Veritaserum, it was actually illegal to give it to someone without their permission. But that was typical Albus, all for the greater good. He needed to know if Harry was a danger to the school or not. He understood that. Now that the people seemed to believe him and he knew where he was Harry quickly calmed down and reverted to his normal self.

Albus nodded to Poppy and the mediwitch disappeared to her office to fire-call Professor Snape for the potion. When she returned she nodded to the headmaster, the Potions Master would be here soon.

"May I ask what happened to Voldemort here?" Harry enquired.

"Lord Voldemort was defeated by Harry James Potter on October 31st 1981. Unfortunately young Harry did not survive." Albus stated sadly.

"Where were my parents?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Our spy managed to get them out in time though it was too late to save baby Harry." Dumbledore replied.

"Snape?" Harry was curious.

The headmaster nodded. The young man seemed to know mostly everything. It would seem that his reality was very similar to this one, with only the death of Harry Potter being different. That at least would make it easier for him to adapt in this new world.

Suddenly an idea struck Harry, "What am I going to do here? This is not my world."

"Perhaps we could try to send you back?" Minerva McGonagall spoke for the first time since Harry awoke.

His green eyes dimmed. "Even if it were possible I would not wish to go back. Everyone I ever cared for is dead. We won but the cost was too high. There is nothing for me there," Harry confessed sadly. The first sign of sadness he had shown. "I realise that I have no family or friends here but I hope to try and build a life. If it is your wish I will leave England to do this. I just want to be free."

"You do have family." James said almost inaudibly.

Harry thought he has misheard, "Sorry?"

"I said; you do have family here. You may not be the child that I raised but you are my son none the less and I'm sure Lily will agree with me." James repeated louder and more confidently. He went over to embrace his son.

Harry felt tears gather in his eyes. A family! That was what he had always wanted. His eyes were the only place the emotion showed brightly, his face had been trained not to show emotion for years. He could finally relax. There were no evil dark lords after his blood here. Cautiously he returned the embrace.

"I'll go get Lily. She will be so happy. Our Harry!" James exclaimed happily.

Harry's eyes widened in shock. The idea that his mother was also alive had escaped him.

James disappeared in a flurry to go find his wife. Harry asked the headmaster, "What day is it?"

"July 20th 1999."

"Yes, it's the same timeline." Harry noted.

"What do you plan to do with your life?" The headmaster enquired curiously. With the amount of power he had felt emanating from the younger wizard he would no doubt excel at whatever profession he chose.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I never expected to survive the final battle. I will have to think about that." Harry replied absently remembering his training. He knew that he could easily become an Auror, he had gone through all the training for that but he had seen enough of dark wizards. Perhaps he could become a curse breaker like Bill Weasley, that had always appealed to him.

James returned with his wife in record time. It seemed that he had explained who Harry was on the way up because the red-haired woman immediately flew over to the bed and hugged the rather scared young man tightly, "I have dreamed of this for eighteen years. My son. My little Harry. All grown up." Tears were streaming down her face.

Harry stared at the living version of the face he had spent hours looking at in a photograph. She was even more beautiful and although considerably older; she did not look her age. Her eyes were the image of his own, down to the exact shade. Lily's red hair flamed brighter than any Weasleys' and fell in ringlets down her back. After a minute Harry was released from the embrace.

She asked him who raised him. All he would say was that he was raised by Petunia. Everyone but Lily had been confused at that but his lioness mother knew her sister too well to believe that he had a happy childhood. "I'm so sorry we weren't there for you, Harry." She despaired.

"I lived because of your sacrifice. I could never have asked anything more of you than that. I had friends and the Weasleys became my surrogate family. All but Ron died and Bill died in a Death Eater raid three months ago. Ron and Bill were killed sometime in the last fifteen hours before I landed here. Everyone I loved is dead. Only now they aren't but they don't know me," Harry grieved, "I'm just glad they are alive and safe."

The doors opened and the Potions Master walked in, striding purposefully as always, to Poppy's office He noticed the mediwitch, "Poppy, I've brought your potion." The scene was so familiar to him that Harry forgot where he was and called out happily, "Snape!"

The man turned towards the bed fully, in confusion. The Potters, Albus and Minerva were sat beside a young man he had never seen before yet seemed to know him, quite well by his tone, "Excuse me, have we met?" He asked curiously.

Harry was stunned by the differences in the man. His hair wasn't greasy and was grown out to his shoulders rather than the nape of his neck, tied back with a black ribbon. He was still pale, but not deathly so obviously this Snape had seen much more sun; but the most startling change was his expression. Harry was skilled at reading the man but this Snape showed more emotion than the man he knew ever would have. "Not being a double agent suits you, Snape." He continued after his thorough inspection.

The striking green eyes, belonging to a very handsome young man Severus had to admit, stared at him, passing all over his body as though assessing him. Severus felt as though his very soul was being inspected and, despite himself, blushed, to the shock of the Potters and the amusement of the headmaster and deputy head. "Not being a double agent suits you, Snape." He heard the stranger pronounce and the Slytherin raised an eyebrow in question.

"Oh sorry! I keep forgetting no one knows who I am in this universe. Rather brilliant actually – I'll finally be able to walk down Diagon Alley without being mobbed. I'm Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Professor Snape." Harry commented brightly.

When he had said "this universe" Severus' eyebrows had risen even higher, at 'Harry Potter" they almost disappeared entirely in shock. His onyx gaze flitted to the Potters, then the headmaster for confirmation before he choked out a, "How? I saw the body myself. You were dead." To his surprise the man in the bed laughed.

"Yes, the Harry Potter from this universe is dead. I am from an alternate universe where I survived but my parents did not. I want to thank you for saving them. It was too late in my universe." Harry threw back the covers and strode over to the stunned man. He held out his hand to his old tutor and comrade who both was and wasn't the man Harry knew so well.

Severus met his eyes and Harry felt the familiar prod of Severus' mind, smirking at the man he took down his barriers and allowed him to see his sincerity. Once again shocked, Severus took the proffered hand. No one had ever thanked him for only saving the elder Potters. James and Sirius had actually become more hostile towards him for a while, he was the reason Harry was dead. He had told Voldemort of the prophecy at Dumbledore's behest. Severus had certainly never expected to be thanked by Harry Potter himself.

When Harry turned around he saw all five people in the room staring at him.

"What?" He snapped irritably.

Lily just smiled at her son. She had forgiven Snape years ago and had a civil relationship with the man but knew that he blamed himself for the death of her son.

James was horrified; his son was on friendly terms with Snivellus! An elbow to his ribs from his wife, however, snapped him out of it and he saved his anger for later.

Dumbledore, Poppy and Minerva were all staring for the same reason. The unflappable Albus Dumbledore recovered first, "How are you walking?"

Harry's eyebrows knotted in confusion, "Well, I just put one foot in front of the other really. Why? How do you walk?" He asked cheekily. He heard a faint snort from behind him and smirked. Yes, this Snape was definitely more open. Maybe Harry could get to know this Snape as well as the old. 'Perhaps even better.' His lecherous mind supplied along with a few graphic images. Thankfully his mind shields were back up so no images leaked out.

"No. How are you walking? With your injuries you should be in bed for a week yet you just walked across the Hospital Wing without a flicker of pain or even a limp." Poppy spoke up loudly. She had been a mediwitch for many years and had never come across someone who seemed to not feel pain like that.

"Oh right," Harry relaxed, "I thought I'd had a leg amputated or something for a moment." He walked back and got into the bed again before Poppy could recover enough to demand that he do just that. "I have a very high pain threshold and experience in ignoring injuries. Can I take that potion now?"

The Potions Master strode over to the bed and handed the young wizard the vial. Harry downed the vile tasting brew without a grimace. Silver light burst out of his chest and led to the two seated Potters. Everyone in the room but Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He was who he said he was. Harry Potter was back.

James Potter suddenly remembered the list of injuries his son had received and paled. Very high pain threshold indeed. Lily was watching the exchange in confusion. Finally she summoned the diagnostic parchment and read the spell's findings for herself. Her eyes grew impossibly wider at each new injury.

Snape was intrigued and moved closer to read over the witch's shoulder. His admiration for the young wizard before him increased with every line. It was amazing that he wasn't a gibbering wreck never mind walking about calmly.

Tears were running down Lily's face yet again by the time she reached the end of the parchment.

Harry was sympathetic, "It was war." He offered as an explanation. "And a lot of the past years' injuries were a result of training."

'War? Wait a minute, Harry Potter would be nineteen if he had survived.' Severus' mind digested in shock. His gaze took in the partially healed body of the teen before him. Despite the power flowing off him it was obvious that this was no child. The power was controlled not the wild magic of a untrained wizard. This was a soldier. His eyes held more sadness than a person four times his age. Sympathy rushed through him for the boy who had been forced to grow up so quickly. "War?" He asked quietly.

Harry smiled grimly, "I was entered into the Triwizard Tournament during my fourth year by an agent of Voldemort's. The prize at the end of the third task was a trophy. I reached it first, along with the other Hogwarts champion. We agreed to take it together to secure a Hogwarts victory but the instant we touched it it became clear that that it was a portkey. We were transported to the old Riddle Manor. The other boy was killed and I captured. Using my blood Voldemort regained human form. I managed to escape but since then it has been war, behind the scenes, if not in the open because the bumbling idiot of a Minister, Fudge, refused to believe that he was back. After I left Hogwarts, I began training in earnest and after two years I was finally ready to defeat him. I fulfilled the prophecy by killing the snake-faced bastard." Harry finished. He had shocked the room into silence again he noted with amusement. He had begun to wonder just how many times he would be able to do that today. Looking at Snape he knew that the man had realised that he had left a lot out, a glance showed him that so did the headmaster. After a few minutes Snape left but not without a backward glance at Harry with heated eyes. Harry shivered at the heat displayed there. He had always found Severus attractive but a relationship between them would have been impossible back in his universe. Here, on the other hand, Harry was free to pursue the elder wizard if he wished which he certainly did and by the glances Snape had been giving him he might not be opposed to the idea either. Deciding to simply see how it went over the next few months Harry turned his full attention back to the people in the room, half his mind was always aware of his surroundings, the effect of two years training with two paranoid wizards.

Lily was the first to break the silence. She heaved a huge sob and launched herself at her son. The teenager's eyes bulged out in shock before he carefully put his arms around the sobbing woman. Even in her most emotional moments Hermione had never flung herself at him in such a way, he had no idea how to deal with this. Casting a desperate look at James Potter all he received was a careless shrug. Looking more awkward by the minute the powerful wizard patted his mother's back, thanking all the gods he had ever heard of that he was gay.

When Lily reclaimed her seat Albus asked his question, "Who trained you?"

A chuckle escaped the young man, a warm joyful sound that surprised his audience, they had not expected him to be so happy, "You did sir, when you had the time. Mainly it was Professor Snape, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shaklebolt."

Surprise showed clearly on the aging wizard's face for a second. To be trained by all those men was remarkable. To have survived and not be paranoid was even more astounding.

James picked up on the name of one of his best friend's, "You trained with Remus?" He asked curiously. It appeared that Remus had at least survived to see Harry grow up.

"Yeah, Moony was the kindest of the tyrants that ruled my life for two years of hell," Harry replied, using the werewolf's Marauder name, informing his father that he knew of the Marauders.

"Moony always was a softy," James agreed easily, nodding his head in acknowledgement of the hint, "What about Siri?"

Harry's face showed no emotion as he said, "He died four years ago."

"Oh."

"So, with all that training I guess you didn't really have time for girls?" His mother broke the tension by asking. To her surprise Harry blushed faintly. "Oh?" She prompted him.

"There was no time for romantic entanglements no." Harry stated, still blushing.

Lily's green eyes glowed, "But...?" There was something he wasn't telling her, she knew it.

A nonchalant look passed over the youth's features, "Girls wouldn't really have interested me anyway."

He watched his parent's reaction's carefully; his mother beamed happily; his father looked surprised before smiling as well. Harry looked at the mediwitch and asked, "Madam Pomfrey, when can I leave?" He had spent far too much time in this very bed since he turned eleven, he knew the Hospital Wing as well as his own room and hated it for what it meant.

She frowned, "Well, usually I'd have expected a patient with your injuries to be here for at least a week before I even considered releasing them but since you seem to be able to function, against my better judgement I'm going to let you leave now. But if you feel worse then I expect you to come straight back." She ordered.

"Oh thank Merlin! I'm sorry Poppy but I can't stand the Hospital Wing. I've spent far too much time in here."

The witch smiled wryly, "That I can imagine. Make sure you don't over exert yourself."

The dark-haired man practically leapt out of bed, his magic was well on its way to healing him, now that the Dark Lord was not siphoning off his power he healed even quicker. He looked down at himself for the first time noticing that he was dressed in a flimsy infirmary robe. "Erm, where are my clothes?"

Poppy summoned them and Harry went into the bathroom to dress. Lily and James took the opportunity to talk to Dumbledore. Harry emerged fully clothed a few minutes later, he had cleaned and repaired his battle robes so, apart from a few cuts and bruises that were visible on the exposed parts of his body, you could not tell that he had just come from a battlefield. He looked so much older in his robes – like a true warrior. Lily knew that as much as she could wish Harry would never been the little boy she had lost, this was a man, he was nearly twenty. He had been through too much for him to truly need a mother to care for him so she had resolved to simply be there for him as he needed.

The Gryffindor headed for the door and was almost free before a feminine voice called him back, "Where do you think you are going, Mister?"

Feeling like he had just been caught out after curfew Harry turned and replied, "The Leaky Cauldron? Well first I was going to see if Gringotts needed any curse-breakers. If not then I'd apply to be an Auror considering I've already been through the training. I thought I'd give that a go until I got a place."

"No you're not." She stated firmly, "You're staying at Hogwarts. Albus has agreed to let you stay in one of the guest suits as I think you need your own space. We're not going to just let you walk out of here with nothing, silly. You are our son." The fiery red-head dragged her practically adult son back into the room.

Seeing no other option Harry agreed. He hadn't really wanted to stay at the Leaky Cauldron anyway. Hogwarts had always been his home.

"There is a suite close to the Gryffindor Tower, another near the Astronomy Tower or one in the dungeons; you may choose whichever you like." Albus offered.

After a second Harry decided, "May I use the dungeon suit, please?"

"…Certainly." He had shocked them again.

"Don't worry, dad. I was the Gryffindor Golden Boy in my universe. However, I am half Slytherin. I had to beg the hat to put me in Gryffindor." He teased the gobsmacked James Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Albus, Lily and James led Harry down to the dungeons. Albus informed the wizard that he would tell the staff of his arrival at dinner. The Wizarding world was in for a shock; Harry Potter had returned. He was very glad that it was summer; all the students were at home so he did not have to deal with them until September. It would give him some time to adjust to this universe.

"Albus, please I do not want any publicity." Harry tried to tell the headmaster but the old man wouldn't listen.

Fighting the rising irritation Harry attempted to clear his head and get through to the man. Finally, when that failed to work he released a blast of controlled magic. 'Ha. That got his attention.' He thought sardonically. "Albus, I had enough problems with the media in my own universe. I would prefer to be anonymous here." It was not a request. "I would like to be introduced as Harry Evans."

Looking like a toddler who has just had his favourite toy taken away from him Albus agreed reluctantly. He also wondered at just how powerful this young man was. His wand had been broken yet he didn't even seem to have noticed its absence, as he had never reached for it or even asked for it to be returned; it certainly made no effect on his use of magic.

For his own part Harry had indeed noticed the absence of his wand but could also sense that it had been broken so he had not asked for it, knowing that had it not been it would have been taken from him until Dumbledore had decided if he was a threat or not. It mattered not. He had mastered wandless and non-verbal spells in the past year during his training. He had no need of his wand but he did mourn it. It had served him well since he was eleven, even if it had been the brother wand of Voldemort's.

After travelling through the dungeons that Harry knew quite well, thanks to all his after-curfew wanderings, they reached the portrait guarding his new rooms. It was Salazar Slytherin. Harry inclined his head respectfully to the Founder. [Lord Slytherin, it is an honour to meet you and to have you as the guardian to my quarters.] He hissed smoothly. He felt rather than saw the three people behind him freeze. Looking over his shoulder he quipped, "Ooops. Guess I forgot to tell you that Voldemort transferred some of his abilities to me that night. I'm a Parselmouth." He grinned innocently at their nervous faces. Once it would have upset him to see their obvious surprise and slight fear but Harry had been trained to harness his natural advantages. Now it simply amused him.

[Welcome, young snake-speaker. It has been an age since the last. I would greatly like to converse with you at length but perhaps a later date would be best. For now, what is your password?] Slytherin asked after a short bow in return.

[New beginnings.] Harry hissed back.

Slytherin nodded, [None shall pass without your permission or password though I dare say I would find their attempt at saying the password highly entertaining.] The original Slytherin joked.

Harry laughed lightly. He liked Slytherin, he had met a portrait of the man in his own universe too. Slytherin had turned out to be not quite the evil muggle hating man that history had painted him as. The man had Severus' sense of humour which Harry had come to appreciate once he discovered it though that had taken a while and had required him to develop a thick skin.

The portrait swung open revealing the guest quarters. They were plain but warmly furnished no house colours which was Harry was glad for. He may be a Gryffindor but red and gold were garish and together could only serve to give him a headache. He thought he'd keep his colour scheme neutral of house affiliations. It would be best not to upset anyone. He wondered if his father still favoured Gryffindor or if he had given up on 'House pride' after over twenty years out of school.

"This is wonderful, thank you. Do any of the professors or Madame Pomfrey need an assistant?" Harry turned to Albus and asked.

The older man looked at the younger man kindly, "There is no need for you to do this, Harry. You are free to stay here as long as you wish." Albus insisted.

"Please. I'll go crazy if I don't have anything to do. I've never been idle." Harry pleaded. He would have to go find a job if he couldn't help anyone here.

"Very well then. I believe Severus would benefit from an assistant. He has mentioned it in the past. How were your Potion grades?" The headmaster conceded.

"I got an O in my NEWTs." Harry admitted. What he didn't say was that he had only done so well after he had begged Snape to tutor him. Once he understood the mechanics Potions was easy. It had just taken him six years to master the basics that's all. It wasn't easy to focus on chopping ingredients when you had to keep an eye out for things being thrown at you from the Slytherins. He had only mastered the containment charm in his seventh year.

"Excellent. I shall ask Severus to consider it." Dumbledore seemed unnecessarily happy. 'Maybe now James and Severus will reconcile. This young man is a miracle. A half Gryffindor, half Slytherin Potter. And he seems to be on good terms with Severus. Delightful.'

"Thank you, Albus." Harry truly meant it. He now had a reason to spend time with this new Severus Snape. It would be easier to break through the man's barriers that way. Though that did not stop him from noticing the twinkle in the headmaster's eye and wondering what he was scheming now.

Lily Potter came over and once again embraced Harry tightly. "We'll see you in the Great Hall at dinner."

The kicker came when James Potter also hugged his 'son' before saying goodbye.

The trio left and Harry immediately felt more relaxed. He had been on edge since he had woken up. What in Merlin's name was he going to do? His parents were alive. They were here. They even seemed willing to accept him. Harry didn't know what to make of it. It had been his dream forever to have his parents back. Now he did and he didn't know how to act around them. 'I mean, really, I am even their son? Their Harry had died nineteen years ago. I am an imposter, a stranger with the face of their son.' The only three people Harry felt comfortable around were Albus, Poppy and Severus – them he trusted. He knew them. They didn't feel any different to the ones he knew. But the Potters, he didn't know them. But he very much wanted to.

Hoping to find his peaceful centre Harry set about decorating his room a little. He installed some book shelves, changed the colours of the curtains on the charmed window and other such things. He exchanged the rather stiff looking armchair for a transfigured plush one placed near the fire. Now all he needed was some books to put on his shelves, he resolved to visit the library; and Diagon Alley when he had some money.

The Potions Master took little convincing to Albus' surprise. He had expected to have to flatter the Slytherin into allowing the young Gryffindor and spawn of James Potter nonetheless into his potions lab. Severus, however, had agreed with one stipulation, "I want to test him first. See if he is competent or not. I will not allow some bumbling idiot into my labs. There are still scorch marks left from Longbottom's pathetic attempts at potion making."

Thence the reason why two hours later a more composed Harry Potter was to be found knocking on the Potion Master's office door, feeling rather like he was reporting for detention.

"Enter." Came the silky baritone Harry found intensely attractive.

He complied and opened the door, "Good evening, Professor Snape." The teen intoned politely.

A dark gaze fixed itself onto him. Apparently a decision was made as the man replied, "Good evening, Mr Potter."

It was strange to be called Mr Potter in that tone Harry thought absently. Snape had always put a certain amount of acid into the name during Hogwarts and afterwards he had been "Potter" but never in that tone, it was almost friendly, he was used to hearing his name said neutrally but normally in exasperation, very rarely in pride.

Snapping himself out of his reminiscing Harry recollected why he was stood in the familiar office. "You wished to examine my competency, Professor? Although I should probably tell you that I am going to be introduced as Harry Evans. Please do not call me Potter in front of anyone else." 'I have had enough of being Harry Potter.'

"Very well. Follow me, Mr Evans." Snape rose from his seat behind his desk and glided to a concealed corridor which Harry knew led to the Potion Master's private lab. He followed and waited silently for Snape's instructions.

Standing tall in his black robes Severus quickly swept his gaze over the stranger. He was shorter than himself, not unusual considering his height, but also shorter than James Potter and likely Lily Potter too which he found odd. His eyes and bone structure were his mother's and his hair most definitely his father's. All together the characteristics of the parents blended together to make an individual altogether very pleasant to look at. He was powerful, that much Severus had already felt. He would not care to anger the young wizard.

"Dumbledore informs me that you achieved an O in your NEWT?" Snape asked for confirmation. Harry nodded. "Very well. What is the most complex potion you can brew?"

"Wolfsbane." Harry answered promptly, with a slight smirk.

A dark eyebrow rose in surprise. That particular potion was not taught at NEWT level. It was a highly complex and volatile recipe, if one thing went wrong it could kill the werewolf. Only Masters usually brewed it and even then not even all Masters could. 'Only one reason why he would know that potion.' Severus guessed, "Lupin?"

He nodded, "I begged you to teach it to me, just in case. Still it took me a few tries to master it." Harry confessed.

"Do you know me well in your universe?" Severus was curious. He had rarely heard his name called in such a tone; familiarly and as though the person was happy to see him. Also he was sure that he would never teach a potion such as Wolfsbane to someone he did not believe capable.

Harry glance around the lab debating what to tell the man. It was exactly as he remembered, just like the office itself. That was reassuring. Should he tell the truth and risk alienating the man or be brief. His Gryffindor morals won over his Slytherin instincts. If he wanted a friendship with the man he couldn't lie to him. He would feel guilty even though he was sure that the man wouldn't know that he was lying. His Occlumency skills had vastly improved since his fifth year.

"Yes and no. Due to your position as a spy you could not risk being anything but a complete bastard to me yet you still saved my life numerous times though that took me a long time to realise. Once I graduated Albus paired us in the Order and you were also one of the people who trained me so we were forced to end our animosity or die. Eventually we became…comrades. There was too much history between us for us to ever be friends though I was more comfortable trading well-meant insults with you than spending time with my old best friends by the time I turned nineteen. I had changed too much and they too little. I believe that, apart from Albus Dumbledore, of course, I knew you better than anyone and you always knew me better than even I did." The half Slytherin explained to the stoic Head of Slytherin before him.

A few seconds passed in which the onyx gaze burnt into him, then, "Brew the Wolfsbane. Do you need the recipe?"

Harry knew Snape needed time to digest the information and gracefully took the out, "No, thank you. I know it." He set to work. Collecting the ingredients he needed from the store cupboard, mindful of Snape's curious and assessing gaze following, scrutinizing, his every move. Heart beating a little faster than usual at the thought of that dark gaze upon him the still-teenaged wizard began to brew.

Snape was watching this stranger in his private lab carefully but part of his mind was working over what Potter had revealed. He could guess that he probably treated the boy horribly, a "complete bastard" Harry said, while he was a student, if he was still a double agent then he would have had no choice. His alternative self probably used his hatred of Harry's father. That they had been comrades explained the wizard's tone when he first met him. Combining this insight to what he learnt earlier that day Severus created a profile of the mysterious Harry Potter. He was definitely a Gryffindor, no doubt about it, but had strong Slytherin inclination judging by some of the things he had said – Albus had even told him that the man was a Parselmouth. He was extremely powerful and knew it but did not flaunt it as James would have. No he seemed more like Lily Potter than his father. For that Severus was grateful. He had always been on relatively good terms with Lily. Severus wanted to learn more about Harry Potter he realised and not in an entirely pure way either. The stranger was stunning; beautiful even, if that particular adjective could be applied to a man, it certainly fit this one. His sense of humour even seemed very similar to his own. A silent sigh escaped him. Who was he kidding? Such a beautiful creature would never want him. He should put it out of his mind.

By the time he completely focused on the teen he was putting the final ingredient in the cauldron, it had been over four hours. Severus was shocked, had he really spent four hours thinking about the young man before him? The first stage was complete. Now it had to sit for twenty-four hours before it could be completed. The Potions Master walked over to inspect the potion.

Harry knew that it was faultless. He had done this too many times for it not to be. Snape acknowledged it, "A Potter brewed a perfect potion, the world must have ended while we were down in the dungeons." He joked.

Harry laughed, "You said the exact same thing when I correctly brewed a potion on the first try." It was odd, this Snape was so similar. Yet he didn't have the hard edge surrounding him, keeping everyone at arm's length. Sure he was sarcastic, but the man could be nothing less; it was in his nature and Harry would never want to change that.

Snape looked up at him after casting a stasis charm around the workstation. "Considering that we are now colleagues I believe that it would be more appropriate for you to call me by my name."

With an inward smile Harry agreed, "Alright, Severus. But only if you do the same. Mr Potter is my father as I am sure you well know and Mr Evans doesn't really exist."

"Very well. I shall see you at dinner I expect. Goodbye, Harry."

Harry loved the way Severus said his name. It sent shivers down his spine. "Goodbye, Severus. I'll see you later."

"Oh!" Harry stopped as he reached the door. He spun around and said quickly, "Thank you for giving me a chance. I look forward to working with you in this universe as well."

The teen left, leaving behind a bemused Severus Snape staring blankly at the closed door to his lab. 'This year will certainly be interesting.' He predicted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Harry spent the next thirty minutes in his room meditating before he went up to the Great Hall to meet the school's current inhabitants. Most of the professors seemed to be the same. Although Hagrid was still the groundskeeper and Lily Potter taught Care of Magical Creatures. Flitwick was there, as were Hooch, Sprout, Vector, Binns and Sinistra. Lavender Brown seemed to be the Divination professor and there were a couple others Harry didn't recognise who he was informed taught Ancient Runes (Professor Steven McCloud) and Muggle Studies (Professor Lisa Owen), both were quite young, though older than Harry, and had only joined the Hogwarts staff two and three years previously. Harry found himself seated in the only available place, between Professor McCloud and Professor Snape. Apparently Albus had told them to expect an addition but had neglected to tell them who.

"Nice to meet you, Mr…?" Steven McCloud had seized upon him as he sat down.

"Evans." Harry answered shortly, not revealing his first name.

"Mr Evans. Any relation to Lily?" He enquired jovially. The man seemed unperturbed by Harry's short answers.

"Yes." They were going with the story that Harry was a distant relation which would explain the green eyes. Harry took the time to assess the man before him. He appeared to be about twenty-four with thick brown hair and warm blue eyes. He was handsome Harry concluded but not his type. He seemed to be moderately powerful, around Ron's level, perhaps less. No match for Harry but then again not many were.

"You're going to be Snape's assistant then?" McCloud continued. That was all Albus had told his staff, not even his name, preferring not to incite the powerful wizard's anger upon him for drawing any attention towards him.

Harry nodded and Severus took that exact moment to enter the Great Hall.

McCloud lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Good luck to you. The man is a perfectionist bastard and sarcastic as hell. He isn't nice to anyone."

Snape reached the Staff Table. "Good evening, Severus." Harry greeted his college warmly.

"Good evening, Harry." Severus returned civilly and took his seat.

To his amusement, Harry noticed that McCloud was gaping like a fish out of water at Snape's civil manner and had turned quite red.

Dumbledore clapped his hands and the food instantly appeared. Once eating had commenced Steven McCloud once again turned to his neighbour and attempted conversation, "You look very young to be a professor."

Harry sighed with a slight eyes roll; really, he had been training his peers for years while he was at school, "I am nineteen, Professor McCloud and more than capable of handling a room full of pubescent children."

Nineteen? He appeared much younger in looks and yet he did not. He seemed ageless. Yet nineteen was still extremely young to teach. "Where did you attend school?" Surely he would have seen him if he had attended Hogwarts. He would have been in his fifth year when Harry was a first year.

"I was home schooled for many years, professor." Harry replied tensely. It was true to an extent. Grimmauld Place had become his home during his years of training.

A sudden thought struck the Runes professor, "How strange that you should be called Harry and be the same age as James and Lily's son would have been if he had survived."

"Indeed. I cannot control what name my parents gave me." Harry turned away from the man suddenly. "Severus, may I come to finish the potion tomorrow morning?"

"Certainly." Snape agreed readily. "I want to test you on the syllabus as well."

"Oh goody. Pop quiz." Was Harry's amused answer. He was used to tests from his Severus Snape and was confident that he could pass any test this Snape set him.

Harry and the dour Potions Master passed the rest of the meal with companionable conversation. Once the plates had vanished Lily came over to them and asked Harry to their quarters for a drink. Severus excused himself silently.

"I would love to." Harry quickly agreed, happy to spend time with his parents. Maybe if he knew them better he would know how to act around them. Besides, he had always wanted to know the infamous James and Lily Potter.

The elder Potters led the way to their rooms which were actually quite close to Gryffindor Tower. The living room was warm and inviting; pictures were displayed everywhere. Many contained pictures of Harry as a baby. The older Harry picked one up once such photograph. He was naked in a bathtub holding a yellow rubber duck; every so often the picture-Harry would squeeze the toy or splashed around happily. The real Harry raised an eyebrow, "I'll have to remember not to bring anyone to meet my parents. Please tell me no one ever visits you?" He asked sarcastically. He had never before had to deal with what most children did - the propensity of parents to keep the most embarrassing pictures of their offspring possible and display them in very public places.

As he put the photograph down Harry caught sight of another. A photograph of Sirius Black and James Potter on James' wedding day. It was one of the only pictures Harry had in his universe. He stared at the picture of his godfather sadly, oblivious to the whisperings of his parents at the other side of the room. When he heard the floo activate and someone step through he acted on impulse and stunned them. Sirius and Remus Lupin-Black hit the floor at the same time.

Lily gasped, "Harry, release them!"

Harry removed the spell and said sheepishly, "Ooops. Old habits are hard to break. Sorry."

Sirius and Remus stared at the stranger in shock. Old habits? Remus smelt the air and realised that his sent was vaguely familiar. Sirius asked the young man who he was.

Before Harry or anyone could answer Remus suddenly remembered where the smell was familiar from. "Harry?" He asked in a whisper.

"Harry?" Sirius was gobsmacked. "As in your son Harry?" He asked James and Lily. They nodded. "How? He died. Didn't he?"

Harry took pity on his godfather. The man never had done confused well. "Yes, he did die, Siri. I'm not the Harry Potter you knew. I was born in another universe to a different Lily and James Potter. I was banished here by a mutated spell early this morning. In my reality I survived the killing curse that Halloween but my parents didn't. This scar marks me as the only person to have ever survived Avada Kedava." Harry lifted his fringe to display the still quite prominent scar. It had barely faded over the years. Though now that Voldemort was gone it did not flare up red in response to strong emotions breaking across the bond between them.

He stared at the two men. Sirius was the most different to what he remembered. This man was easily recognisable as the older version of the man in the photograph Harry was still holding, not the haunted man who had spent a decade in Azkaban before falling through the Veil. Even Remus was different. His hair had less grey in and his face had less worry lines. He looked happy in a way Harry had never really seen his old tutor. Harry was incredibly happy to see his family looking so well. They were together and that was all Harry wanted. He didn't care that none of them knew him; even if they never wanted to see him again he wouldn't care because they were alive and happy. This was the life they deserved to have.

"A different universe?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"It's true, Siri. We used the parentage potion to make sure. He is our son. Harry is back." James informed his friend.

Sirius' face lit up suddenly, "Harry!" The animagus and werewolf moved as one and flew at the stunned teen wrapping their arms around him.

"Air would be nice about now." Harry managed to choke out a minute later, his face getting redder by the second.

The two wizards released their death grips on him instantly and Harry gasped for air. His normal colour returned to his face.

Remus watched the teen. "How did you survive the killing curse? No one has ever survived Avada Kedava. It is impossible." He wondered aloud.

Harry smiled grimly, "I survived because of my mother's love. She dies protecting me which invoked an ancient blood magic." 'Wow. Feels awkward talking about this to my 'family'.'

"Amazing…so Lily isn't alive in your universe?" Sirius asked curiously.

The newcomer shook his head, "Neither is my father. They both died that night."

"Did we raise you then?" His godfather inquired. If Lily and James were dead then surely he and his husband would have taken Baby Harry in.

The nineteen year old Harry bit his lip, "No, you didn't. I only met you when I was thirteen. You spent twelve years in Azkaban for the murder of Peter Pettigrew after you had betrayed James and Lily Potter to Voldemort, your master, or so everyone believed."

Sirius Lupin-Black went pale, "Murder? Betrayal?"

"No one knew the Secret Keeper had been changed to Peter Pettigrew. You were arrested the same day for killing the rat in the middle of a crowd of muggles. Of course you didn't actually kill him. He cut off his finger and set you up while he escaped in his animagus form. You escaped Azkaban as Padfoot in my third year and came to Hogwarts to finally kill Pettigrew after seeing a picture of him in the Daily Prophet on my best friend's shoulder." Harry explained briefly, leaving out time-turners, werewolves not taking their Wolfsbane, Severus Snape and hippogriffs.

"And me? Did I not raise you?" Remus asked, fearful of the answer. The sad look he got from the young wizard told him all he needed to know. "Why?"

"I once asked you that. You replied that as a werewolf the Ministry denied your claim and you couldn't take me from the Dursleys because I was protected by the same blood magic that saved me that Halloween night. From what little you told me, you moved around a lot from job to job, heartbroken by your lover's apparent betrayal." Harry really felt weird talking to them about this.

Lily sensed that a change of subject was needed. Merlin, what had her baby been through in his short life? "Shall we all sit down? Harry, Siri, Remmy, do you want a drink?" She offered.

All four men sat down. The three asked answered in the affirmative and Lily disappeared into the kitchenette.

A thought occurred to Harry, "What happened to Pettigrew here?" He asked curiously. In his universe he had seen Remus Lupin kill the wayward Marauder before succumbing to the rat's silver hand around his throat. But they didn't need to know that. Some things would have to stay secret. If only because it would be too strange for them to understand and hear. These men had not been alive in his world. Had not witnessed the atrocities Voldemort inflicted on the terrified population. Even the Muggles had known something terrible was happening by the end of the war.

"Siri, Remmy and I went after him. Eventually we handed him over to Aurors. He was given the Kiss after he was found guilty at his trial." James answered proudly. He had avenged his son at least. That he had called that rat friend for so long! He had been with Voldemort since before they left Hogwarts. Pettigrew had deserved everything he received.

Lily came back with a tray holding five glasses of firewiskey. Though Harry couldn't help but notice that his glass had significantly less in it with amusement. He was not that bothered about drinking. It dulled the senses too much. Harry had only ever been drunk once before, on his eighteenth birthday with none too good results the morning after and apparently had had made a fool of himself the night before too although he didn't remember anything.

Recognising the need for a less emotional topic of conversation Remus asked Harry what he was planning to do in this universe.

"Well, for the time being I am Severus' assistant." He confessed.

The werewolf's eyebrows rose in surprise at Harry's calling Snape 'Severus' but he didn't comment on it. His husband, on the other hand, was more shocked at his being Snape's assistant and not seeming to mind. "You're Snivellus' assistant?" He repeated incredulously.

Harry's emerald eyes flashed dangerously, "Don't call him that."

The animagus was confused, "Why not?"

"Because he is a good man and he does not deserve your ridicule." He spat. At Sirius' disbelieving look Harry carried on, "You know, I once saw a memory of the Marauders after the OWLs. You and my father were bored. Then Severus walked past. You goaded him and then my father levitated him and turned him upside down so his underwear showed. Then you taunted him. When you were asked why you treated him like that, what he had done to deserve your censure, your answer was, "He exists". How can someone's mere existence be enough to secure such treatment from you? I had never before been ashamed of my parents and you before then. I was Draco Malfoy's childhood rival but I would never have fought him with such odds, it was always one on one, a fair fight. I certainly would never have displayed his underwear to the school." Harry was seething. It was true. He would never have done that to Malfoy. Though after Hogwarts Malfoy followed his father's footsteps and taken the mark. In the end Harry had killed him on the battlefield. But if he hadn't then he would have been killed, it was war. Not some childish game.

James and Remus looked contrite at Harry's words, James especially because his son had been ashamed of him. He did regret most of what he did to Snape but had never apologised.

Lily smiled at her son. She agreed and had tried to stop their actions many times.

Sirius, however, ignored what he had said. "A good man? He's a Death Eater!" He exploded.

"He was a spy as you well know and yes he is a good man. He saved my life many times and was even one of my trainers once I left Hogwarts. I owe him more than I could ever possibly repay. I am aware that this is not the same Severus Snape but he has the same principles, he is for all intents and purposes the same man, he just doesn't have the same memories as I do. Lucky him. This way he can be himself much more easily. He isn't as jaded and probably won't have as many nightmares." Harry argued calmly. His temper, inherited from his mother, had calmed as he remembered that Sirius didn't know the things he knew about Severus. He had likely never seen the real Severus Snape, not that he wanted to either. 'Shame, I would have liked to believe that my godfather would have matured more in almost twenty years.' Obviously the canine animagus was still as hot-tempered as he had been in Harry's reality. He had thought that eighteen years with Remus would have calmed him down slightly but apparently not. Severus was always the one button guaranteed to set Sirius off on a tangent.

Lily suspected that Harry felt a bit more than simple gratitude towards Severus Snape. She had seen how he lit up when the Potions Master had walked into the Hospital Wing. He also defended him resolutely, she noted. The fiery woman decided to watch her son and colleague more closely from now on but she would say nothing to her husband. James was not likely to approve, at least not right away. She would have to work on him. Later though. Now she wanted to get to know her son.

"Snape is a very introvert person. Not very easy to get on with but he is a good man, no doubt about it." Lily agreed. Then she changed the subject, "Now, James, what are we going to do about Harry?"

"We could go to the Ministry tomorrow. He isn't registered yet. Angelina could get the paperwork through without anyone knowing." James replied.

"Paperwork? What for?" Harry was confused.

"Yes, the paperwork that declares you our son. The whole world doesn't need to know that Harry Potter is alive, you can stick with Harry Evans, but you are our heir and that means you have to be legally registered as living." James Potter explained.

"I don't need your money." Harry insisted. He could get a job. He didn't need much money.

"No! You are our son. The Potter line is old and rich; we have no need for all that money. Besides we needed to designate an heir, now it is just our original one. Well almost." Lily insisted.

After a few minutes of silent battle with his mother and an explanation from his father Harry reluctantly gave in to their pleas. He was a Potter and in his universe the Potter fortune was his, along with the Black. But here, in this new universe, it was different. Harry Potter died – he had no claim on the money that had been the child's inheritance. He was not the Harry Potter of this world.

"You will come with us to the Ministry then to Gringotts tomorrow, won't you?" James asked his son.

Harry nodded, "But I need to finish the Wolfsbane potion I began today. I promised Severus I would come back tomorrow morning."

"We'll go in the afternoon then." Lily stated firmly. She was just happy to have her son back in any form.

"You can brew Wolfsbane?" Remus asked the green eyed teenager.

He just smiled at his pseudo-godfather in answer.

Remus smiled back, he had been receiving Wolfsbane from Severus for years. Apparently Harry had felt the need to learn how to brew it as well.

"So Harry, tell us who your friends are?" Sirius began a conversation hoping he was not going to alienate his newly returned godson, even if it was only Snape he had insulted.

"Were," Harry corrected emotionlessly. He had resigned himself to this life while he had been brewing and afterwards meditating. He would try to make new friends. "I became best friends with Ron Weasley on the Hogwarts Express first year. Hermione Granger became our best friend that Halloween after…" He trailed off with a fond smile.

"After what?" Remus prompted.

A huge smile broke out across the young man's face, for the first time they saw just how young he really was, "After we rescued her from a troll that had been let into the school. We became known as the Golden Trio. Practically inseparable during our Hogwarts years." He continued.

"A troll?" Lily burst out.

Harry nodded, "Quirrell let a full-grown mountain troll into the school as a distraction." He conveniently didn't mention for what, "Hermione wasn't in the Great Hall when Albus ordered us to our dormitories; Ron had teased her earlier so she was in the girl's bathroom crying. We couldn't just leave her there so we ran off to get her. Only the troll got there first. Between Ron and me we managed to knock it out. Then the professors came rushing in and Hermione lied to cover for us, saying that she had gone after it because she had read all about them and thought she could handle it. She said that we rescued her. McGonagall took points and told her off whereas Ron and I received points and we were best friends ever since. Hermione was the brains, Ron the brawn and strategy guy and I…well Hermione once said that I was the heart, the glue that held us together." 'Well tried to hold us together.' He finished in his head. It hadn't really worked when he had begun his training. Eventually Ron and Hermione had admitted to having feelings for each other. They got married a year out of Hogwarts. Hermione had been one of the Weasleys to die in the attack on the Burrow. Ron had been devastated.

"Dear Merlin." His mother had gone white while the three men just looked impressed.

"Wow. A troll at eleven." Sirius breathed.

Harry just smirked, "Yeah. McGonagall called it 'sheer dumb luck'."

"I'll say." Lily muttered under her breath. Suddenly she was very glad that she had not been there while her son had grown up. No doubt she would have died of heart failure before now. She feared that he had not had an uneventful childhood. Oh if only she had been there....

"Your first year at Hogwarts sounds much more interesting than ours." Remus commented jokingly.

Harry retuned the smile, "You have no idea." Despite their entries he refused to expound on his comment. The youngest Potter took a sip of his firewiskey, letting the burning liquid run down his throat slowly, warming him from the inside out. "Now, I know what Lily and James' jobs are so what do you two do for a living?" He asked curiously.

"I'm an Auror and Remus here is a wizard of leisure." Sirius answered for them. The faint blush on Remus' cheeks revealed to Harry why he was a "wizard of leisure".

"The werewolf laws?" He enquired gently.

Remus nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry. If it helps any you're a wonderful teacher. One of my favourites."

The werewolf looked at him in surprise, "Teacher? Why would Albus allow me to teach?"

"Yes, you taught Defence in my third year. You were the one that taught me how to cast a Patronus. As for why Albus hired you, well to be honest our DADA position was cursed but you were the best teacher we had over the entire seven years and that is the truth. You also helped train me to defeat Voldemort when I left Hogwarts." He ended with a faint smile, remembering all the hours he had spent with the man.

The four adults flinched minutely at "Voldemort" Harry noticed angrily. "For Merlin' sake you're not afraid of his name here are you? He's been gone for eighteen years hasn't he?" He demanded to know. His eyes were flashing emerald again.

"Many do still call him "You Know Who" but others do call him by his name. We only flinch because saying his name brings back the memory of what he took from us." James replied reasonably before taking another mouthful of the alcohol.

"You could cast a Patronus at age thirteen?" Remus had latched onto that particular titbit. Harry grimaced; he should have known that this Remus would be as sharp as the one he had left.

"Yes, it is a stag. You told me that it looked exactly like my father's animagus form, Prongs." Harry replied. He swore never to tell them the full reasons for his learning that particular charm, or when he had used it. There were some things they didn't need to know.

"Then it is corporeal?" Sirius was shocked.

When his godson nodded Remus gasped. A corporeal Patronus at age thirteen. Most adults couldn't cast more than a faint wisp of smoke. "You must be very powerful." He stated in awe.

James and Lily nodded in agreement with the pronouncement; they had both felt his raw power earlier. It was breathtaking and that was a controlled, diluted burst intended to get attention. His full raw magic power would be much greater.

"Is Defence your best subject then?" James asked his son.

"I guess so. Along with Charms and Potions. Transfiguration comes in second."

Hoping that his godson wasn't a carbon copy of Lily Sirius asked, "Did you ever play Quidditch?"

"I was the youngest seeker in a century. I was seeker for Gryffindor for six and a half years." Harry informed them proudly.

"Six and a half?"

Harry's face darkened in dislike. "Delores Umbridge banned me my fifth year. I was reinstated the following year when we got rid of her, much to Malfoy's disappointment. She had it in for me. Hateful toad."

"She is a Ministry employee under Fudge." Lily informed him. Her tone implied that she didn't like the woman either.

"She was in my universe as well. Fudge wanted more control over Hogwarts so he made Albus employ her as DADA professor. Bint had us doing theory all year. Then she had the nerve to declare herself Hogwarts High Inquisitor. That mad woman made me out to be a raving lunatic out for attention. I still bear the scars of her 'helpfulness'." He said bitterly. Harry absently ran his fingers over the glamoured 'I will not tell lies' scar on his left hand.

Lily Potter's hawk-like eyes caught the slight movement and frowned in confusion but didn't comment. Maybe it was hidden. She would investigate at a later date, this young man before her was still so closed off.

"So tell me, is Fudge as much of a bumbling dunderhead in this universe?" Harry asked brightly sparking a new debate on their useless Minister and who should run the Ministry instead.

Lily didn't fail to notice how her son had skilfully manipulated the conversation away from himself but allowed herself to be drawn into the debate. Gryffindor may have been the house Harry was sorted into but he was very much a Slytherin.

An hour later she realised that while James, Sirius and even Remus were on their way to being severely inebriated Harry was still nursing his first glass just like her. Lily was strangely thankful that this young man was more like her than her husband. While she had no doubt that if they had lived to raise him Harry would certainly have been a second generation Marauder she was glad that he bore some resemblance to herself. Although, the Gryffindor woman had a feeling that this dimension traveller could be mischievous as well. She already loved him as much as she would have had she raised him. "You don't drink like most teenagers." She whispered so that the others didn't hear.

"I am not like most teenagers. Being drunk means being out of control. Even if I had never had to be on my guard all the time from Death Eaters attacks I would not want to lose control of myself." Harry admitted. Vernon had drunk and Harry had often seen how much it affected the man. When he was intoxicated was when the man hit him. Only a harsh slap if he did something wrong but it was enough for Harry to associate alcohol with pain. Besides for most of his life he had been told that his father had been drunk driving when the car crashed, killing his parents.

In the end he put the glass down and stood up, "I should be getting to bed. Severus'll make me his guinea pig me if I'm late," He joked, "See you at one outside the Great Hall, then?"

"Yes, ok." She easily agreed.

"Night…mum." Lily Potter was exactly how Harry had always imagined she would be. His mother, loving and smart. But she was perceptive. He would have to be careful around her if there was anything he didn't want her to know.

Lily was ecstatic. 'He called me mum!'. "Goodnight Harry."


	5. Chapter 5

I'd like to thank rayvern for her great betaring of this chapter.

**Chapter 5**

Harry woke up instantly when his alarm went off. He had never been one of those people who took a few minutes in the morning to remember things, he always remembered instantly, much to his consternation, so he knew exactly where he was and why from the second he opened his eyes to take in the bedroom he was now residing in.

The young wizard stumbled into the bathroom and quickly took a shower. He had to be in the dungeons in half an hour.

A thorough cleaning charm and a quick spell to change the colour of his t-shirt and he was set. He couldn't wear his battle robes so he would just have to go round in muggle dress until he could get some new robes. At least it was summer, no one was around to see him other than the professors.

Harry set off for Severus' lab, arriving a couple of minutes earlier than expected; he knew that Severus couldn't abide tardiness. He had been to enough detentions during his school years to know that. After knocking on the door he heard the ever so familiar voice call out, "Enter" in that silky baritone. Harry silently prayed for more than simple friendship with the man. He could live with that but he prayed to Merlin for more.

He opened the door, and stepped in, breathing in the air layered with indefinable potions ingredients. "Good morning, Severus."

The Potions Master smiled faintly at his 'assistant' and said, "Good morning, Harry."

Harry proceeded to complete the Wolfsbane potion without being directed. Severus simply carried on with his own potion.

After ten minutes Severus spoke up, "What are the main ingredients in the Dreamless Sleep potion?"

"Griffin's tears, powered hemlock and shrivelled toad spleen," was Harry's prompt response.

They continued that way for the next two hours until Severus was completely satisfied that Harry knew the syllabus inside and out.

For his part, Harry understood why Severus was asking. It was even good for him, and it helped him practice. They used to have these sessions at least once a week before Harry had defeated Voldemort.

"Very good, Mr Evans."

Severus placed a slight emphasis on the 'Evans' which made Harry smirk, "I had a very determined teacher, he insisted that I learn how to protect myself from poisons and know how to brew my own should the need arise. Failure was not an option."

"I sound like a harsh bastard," Severus commented softly. 'Then again', he thought, 'I have not been involved in the war for nearly eighteen years now.'

"You were harsh and in my younger years I certainly called you a bastard," Harry grinned, "but you earned my respect years ago, even before I understood why you acted like that."

Severus didn't respond. Instead he inspected Harry's potion. Ok perhaps he didn't have to do it from right behind Harry, and he certainly did not have to lean over his shoulder to do so but by Merlin it felt so good. It _had_ been too long since he had had a lover.

For his part, Harry was enjoying the closeness as well. 'Perhaps a little too well,' he thought ruefully as he felt certain parts of his anatomy reacting. 'Bloody teenage hormones.' He made sure to gently press back against Severus discretely, however.

The Potions Master came back to himself quickly and commented, "The potion is well made. Lupin would suffer no ill consequences should he take that in a week's time."

Harry smiled at him warmly. The he suddenly recalled the time and had to leave. "I have to go now. I'll see you tonight Severus. My parents are dragging me to the Ministry in fifteen minutes."

"Goodbye, Harry."

When the younger man had left Severus flopped ungracefully into his chair. What was he doing? The man was twenty years younger than him. He did not even know him. Why did he desire him so much?

Harry strode up to the Great Hall as his parents arrived. Lily immediately went to hug him; his father just shared a smile with his son over his wife's shoulder.

James had Lily to thank for his condition this morning. She was the one who brewed the hangover potion for the old Marauders. Without her he would have had one hell of a headache so he was going to be very nice to her today.

The trio apparated to the waiting room of the Ministry of Magic with two loud cracks and one rather quiet one. Lily Potter gave their names to the witch on reception, saying that she and her husband had an appointment with Angelina Johnson.

Harry's ears perked up at the name of his former team-mate. He thought that she had joined Puddlemere United like Oliver Wood when she graduated but he wasn't sure. So here she was a Ministry employee. 'Weird.'

The short teenager followed his parents to Angelina's office. A plaque on the door read, 'Angelina Johnson, Magical Inheritance Officer'.

James knocked on the door and opened it to reveal a nicely furnished room. Angelina was seated behind a desk but stood up to greet James and Lily when she saw them. "It's nice to see you again, professors. What can I do for you?"

Harry just looked at her; she was exactly how he remembered, just a little older. It still took some getting used to, seeing people he used to know. Not to mention, he actually walked down the corridors of the MOM without being accosted by Fudge. That had to be a first. No one had stared at him. He hadn't been asked for an autograph. Harry was seriously liking this new universe.

Lily smiled at her former pupil. "Hello Angelina. We were hoping that you would be able to help us sort out a new contract. We have recently taken in Harry Evans here and wish to designate him as benefactor of our estates in the event of our deaths."

Miss Johnson took in the young man behind the professors. He was slightly taller than Lily Potter and had her eyes. His hair looked strangely like James'. If she didn't know better then she would have said that this was their son, but that couldn't be possible. Harry Potter died eighteen years ago. "Nice to meet you, Mr Evans."

He smiled faintly. "And you Miss Johnson."

She moved back behind her desk and gathered the necessary parchments to her. "Shall we begin?"

When they left two hours later Harry was the legal heir of James and Lily Potter once again. He had access to his old vault, the one he had first entered at age eleven. His parents had refused to close the account, even though their son was dead. As a result, it had considerably more in it than Harry remembered; the goblin interest rate was quite competitive. At least he wouldn't have to worry about getting a job anytime soon. He had a place to stay but was unaware if being Severus' assistant came with a salary or just a death wish and a free pass to the Hospital Wing.

Harry was then forced to endure a further three hours of shopping. Lily had insisted that he get a whole new wardrobe considering that all he currently possessed were literally the clothes on his back.

He was dragged around by a determined red-head to more shops then he knew existed on Diagon Alley. If fact, he was pretty sure that many of them didn't exist in his universe. For one, Diagon Alley had been nearly closed down in his universe. The attacks by Death Eaters on innocent shoppers and shop keepers who disobeyed them had not ceased. Even the Weasley Twins had eventually closed down. They had been bombed out one night, losing nearly everything. They had moved back into the Burrow. Molly had been the only one who was happy about that.

By the end of the three hours Harry now possessed ten sets of everyday robes, two pairs of boots, a pair of thick dragonskin gloves, a winter cloak, underwear and a set of formal dress robes in a lovely emerald green with silver and gold trim, the gold James had insisted on.

Lily had asked Harry if he wanted to visit Ollivander's. Harry knew he did not _need _a wand but the majority of people would find it most odd that he did not possess one. He did not want that sort of attention, therefore, he agreed to visit the old wandmaker.

The dusty bell rang, its tinkle drawing the moon-eyed man out of the back.

"Ahh, James Potter, mahogany, eleven inches, pliable, excellent for transfiguration. Lily Potter, willow, ten and a quarter inches, swishy, nice for charm work. And..." The man gazed at Harry in confusion, trailing off.

Harry hid a smile. In his own universe, Ollivander had known who he was at once. To not be recognised...he was thrilled. "I am Harry Evans, Mr Ollivander. I have come for a wand, my previous one broke, to my sorrow. It had served me well."

Ollivander's face grew sombre. The breaking of a wand was serious indeed. "My condolences Mr Evans. We shall find you another. You did not get your first wand from me?" It was not really a question. Ollivander never forgot a customer.

Harry took the easier option and replied, "No I did not."

Ollivander set about searching for a wand for his customer while Lily and James stood off to the side.

As soon as the wandmaker placed the first suggestion in Harry's right hand they were glad they had stood there. The two did not pair well; all the shelves in the shop rattled and red sparks shot out of the tip.

Ollivander whipped the wand out of his grasp. "No, not that one."

After several attempts, all unsuccessful, the shop was in quite a state of disarray. While Lily and James were attempting to clear up after his destruction, Harry cleared his throat. "Might I make a suggestion, sir?"

A rather frazzled looking Ollivander glanced up from the dusty shelves. "Certainly. Go ahead."

"May I try, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Ollivander froze. "That is an unusual combination."

Harry smiled at the wandmaker, "May I try it?"

When the familiar wand was placed in his grasp Harry knew that this was the one. He repaired all the previous damage he had called in one wave of the wand.

"Curious. Very curious."

James could not contain his curiosity and asked, "Why is it curious?"

"I had not expected anyone to fit this wand. The one whom, I had believed it would be for having died. The brother of this wand did terrible things under the hands of He Who Must Not Be Named."

Lily's eyes went wide. She gasped. Looking at Harry, she realised that this was not unknown to him. He had asked for this wand. Was that the one that had been broken when he arrived? 'Most likely,' she decided.

"Indeed. How much for the wand, Mr Ollivander?" Harry had no desire for anyone to find out exactly who he was. He wanted to get out of the shop as soon as he could.

"Eleven sickles." Ollivander said distractedly.

They had been to Gringotts and Harry had gotten a bottomless purse, so he handed over the money, took his wand and left the shop, robes flying. The man's eerie eyes had been staring at him. It felt like he was trying to peer into his very soul though Harry had not felt any intrusion into his mind so it was not Legilimency.

The elder Potters, sensing their heir's mood, chose not to comment on what had just occurred. Instead they returned to Hogwarts without continuing exploring the Alley.

Harry banished all his packages to his room and then followed his parents to their quarters.

The reunited family had arranged to have dinner together in the Potter's rooms. Harry stayed until eleven o'clock before returning to his own rooms. As he was walking down the dark corridors to the dank dungeons he considered what his parents had told him. They had described the events of what would have been his Hogwarts years in this universe. They were largely uneventful. Nothing like his own years within the walls of the castle. The Philosopher's Stone had never been stored in the school; Nicholas Flamel and his wife were still alive and well. Dumbledore had dinner with them once a month apparently. Quirrell had never been DADA professor; James had occupied the post for ten years now. In fact he had learnt that the stuttering man had been killed by vampires in the Dark Forest.

The Chamber of Secrets had never been opened; no students had been petrified…'Wait, that means that the basilisk was never released. If there was never a Tom Riddle to release it in my second year then it should still be hibernating underneath the school.' A chill ran down Harry's spine at the knowledge that a 40 foot killer was lying beneath his feet. He would have to go down to the chamber and deal with it. It wouldn't be fair to leave it to someone else.

What would have been his third year was uneventful to say the least. There were no Dementors as Sirius was never arrested and imprisoned. However, the Tri-Wizard Tournament did take place at Hogwarts in his fourth year. Victor Krum of Durmstrang was the winner although it was a close call between him and Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff.

Umbridge had never invaded the school. Hagrid had never brought his giant half-brother to the school; he was still the groundskeeper. And Firenze was still with his pack in the Forbidden Forest, not the divination teacher. So many things were different. Was it because of his death or were there other factors in play as well? Harry got a headache just from thinking about it. Time and alternate reality paradoxes were only good for one thing really - causing headaches.

Caught up in his musings Harry didn't notice the figure moving towards him until he collided with it. His reflexes allowed him to keep himself upright but his victim was not so lucky.

Severus Snape landed on the cold stone floor with an exclamation of surprise. Almost immediately a hand was before him. He looked up to its owner and saw his attacker, Harry Po-'Evans,' he corrected himself, with an apologetic expression.

"I'm so sorry, Severus. I was not looking where I was going."

The older man took the offered assistance and once he was again upright, straightened his robes. "What, pray tell, had you so concerned that you ploughed into me like a rampaging hippogriff?"

With a smirk at the comment Harry replied, "I was considering the disparities of this reality with my own and their causes. And I know for a fact that I was acting nothing like a rampaging hippogriff."

"Ahh I see. Perhaps it is best not to think of such things if it causes such inattention to your surroundings. I should hate to be your victim a second time." The sarcasm was thick. The Potions Master chose to ignore the hippogriff comment; he wasn't sure the knowledge was worth having.

Harry shook his head. "Perhaps you should also look where you are going, my dear professor. What in Merlin's name are you doing out in the corridors at this time anyway? Surely not patrolling. It is the summer you know; there are no students here." He was expecting to be hexed. The Severus he knew would never have tolerated anyone teasing him.

This Severus surprised him. "I find it easier to work through potion problems whilst walking."

"Then I shall leave you to your potions, Severus. Good night." Harry bowed his head in respect and then carried on to his chambers.

"Good night, Harry." He heard Snape say softly behind him.

Salazar was smirking at Harry when he stopped in front of his portrait. He had seen what had just occurred further up the corridor.

[What has you so amused tonight?] He hissed in slight irritation at the old Parselmouth.

The smirk only grew bigger. [Nothing, nothing,] he replied, amusement lacing his voice, [Only...I do not believe I have ever seen the resident Potions Master actually trip over another person before. He usually has more grace than that.]

Harry refused to blush. This was a portrait; no matter what he was insinuating he still wasn't alive. [Perhaps he was simply too absorbed with matters in his own head. Tell me, Salazar, did no one ever get the better of you whilst you were busy solving potion problems in your mind?]

His retort gained him nothing but a knowing smile and a quiet chuckle, [Indeed, my dear wife often did.]

Knowing that he would get no more out of the original Slytherin, Harry gave his password, [New beginnings ,] and was permitted entrance to his rooms.

As Harry took his seat at the Staff Table the following morning he overheard Minerva McGonagall speaking to the Headmaster about a former student's request to use the library during the summer.

"Miss Granger says that she is writing a thesis on dark charms and their origins and therefore requests a permit to use the library and the restricted section. Shall I tell her she can come as soon as she wishes? There are only two weeks till the students return after all."

He took a couple of slices of toast and began to spread strawberry jam on them, listening curiously to the conversation, along with the rest of the staff.

The Headmaster nodded. "Certainly, Minerva. It would be a pleasure to see Miss Granger again."

McGonagall smiled faintly. "It is a pity the girl was in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor, but she was still one of my favourite pupils."

Harry's heart began to beat faster; Hermione was coming to Hogwarts. He had not seen his best friend in such a long time. Yet she wouldn't know him. Perhaps he should simply stay away from her. Or maybe he could befriend her again. He was unsure which one would hurt the most. And she was a Ravenclaw! He ate his toast mechanically, caught up in his thoughts, before leaving quickly for the quiet of the dungeons; Harry was aiding the Potions Master in re-stocking the hospital wing for the upcoming year.

In any case Harry's decision was taken out of his hands. While he was in the library researching an essay Severus had set him, she happened upon him.

Hermione had been informed that there was a new addition to the teaching staff. She had been intrigued. After all, not many could meet the Potion Master's standards and even fewer could stand the man enough to be his assistant and spend so much time in his company. Her curiosity led her to introduce herself to this young man. He was rather attractive after all.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."

Harry took the outstretched hand cautiously, with a faint smile he replied, "Harry Evans."

"What brings you to the library during the summer, Harry?"

Her open friendly manner was just as Harry remembered. As was her insatiable curiosity. She had at least three huge tomes floating behind her. Harry nodded his head towards the other chair and she took a seat. "I'm researching an essay on the properties of wormwood combined with foxglove essence for Severus."

A brown eyebrow rose at the informal name. "You are on amicable terms with Professor Snape then? I graduated two years ago and can honestly say that I have never heard anyone but the other professors call him by his first name. How old are you?"

'Same old Hermione.' "I am nineteen."

"The same age as me. Yet you did not attend Hogwarts. To my knowledge anyway. Did you go to Beaubaxtons or Durmstrang?" Hermione didn't hear any accent in his voice like the people who came to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry wondered what he should tell her. Should he lie or tell her a partial truth? Considering that he wished to regain her friendship, or gain it for the first time rather, and he was also interested in her theory of how he came to be here he decided to tell the truth. "I did attend Hogwarts."

She frowned. "But – "

Harry continued, "I just did not attend this Hogwarts. I appeared almost two weeks ago now from an alternate universe."

Hermione's eyebrows met her hairline. "An alternate universe? Truly?"

He nodded. "Please do not question me about it, 'Mione. Please."

She noticed the tension in his body. Hermione dropped the subject but was still curious. "So you do not know anyone here?" She had noticed the shortening of her name, did he know her? No one but her parents called her that.

Harry tilted his head to the left. "It is not that I do not know anyone here so much as no one here knows me. Though the Potters have been kind enough to take me in after I dropped in just outside the Forbidden Forest."

"They are very nice people. I had them as teachers for seven years." 'Perhaps it would do them some good to care for someone as a son,' she thought. Ever since they lost their child there had been a sadness to the Potters, though they managed to hide it quite well. Hermione believed that teaching her year in particular, the year their little boy would have been a member of, was incredibly difficult. 'And perhaps Harry needs them too. Imagine people you have known your whole life no longer knowing who you were.'

"How did you get sent here?" Being sent to another universe was believed to be impossible. Few even believed that they existed at all.

Harry smiled. "I believe it was a combination of Expelliamus and an unknown dark curse directed at me. They merged before hitting me, and I awoke in the hospital wing here with some people I recognised and others I did not gathered over my bed looking at me as though I was an invader."

"Is there no way for you to return to your universe?"

Harry met her eyes and held them, "Even if there was I would not wish to return. In my world Voldemort returned five years ago and wreaked havoc before he was finally defeated. There is nothing for me to go back to. I am making a life here." There was a harshness to his tone that had not been there before, a gruff note, belying some unspoken pain.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." She wanted to give the man a hug but instinctively knew it would not be welcomed. "I would like to be your friend here." What had his universe been like that a world where no one knew him was preferable?

"I would like that. Thank you Hermione." So, he had his friend back. She was so similar to his Hermione that it made his heart ache to look at her. She had also died on the Death Eater raid of the Burrow, taken down brutally as she tried to help Molly get Ginny to safety. 'Enough. I have to let them go,' he told himself sharply. 'They aren't dead here.' He had something unique here; he had a new chance and Harry intended to make the most of it.

They continued to talk for half an hour before both carried on with their research. Hermione had come to Hogwarts to find the books on dark charms for her thesis; she was studying to be a Charms Mistress. She had fallen in love with charms at Wingardium Leviosa, much to Flitwick's delight. She had been his favourite student, better even than Lily Evans when she had been a student, which Flitwick had not failed to inform the Care of Magical Creatures professor of.

The new friends went to dinner in the Great Hall together. There was an extra seat at the table next to Minerva which Hermione took while Harry took his customary seat beside Severus.

The older man turned to him slightly. "Now I see why you did not return earlier with the essay."

Harry had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Sorry, I met Hermione and we got talking. I have finished it though. Here." He handed the scroll over.

Severus took the scroll and put it in his robe pocket before he went back to his plate. Conversation was limited between the two that meal.

Later that night Severus was pondering that sharp pang in his chest when he saw his assistant and former pupil enter the hall together. Could it be? Was it possible that he was jealous of Miss Granger? He knew that he was attracted to Harry but to have actually felt jealous was a rather new occurrence for Severus. He had had lovers before but none that he had been particularly disappointed to see go and certainly none that he had been jealous of.

In his own chambers Harry was unaware of Severus' musings before the fire with a glass of firewiskey. He was reading over a Defence Against the Dark Arts book. Just because he didn't need to keep training didn't mean that he could start to slack off. His quarters were beginning to feel more like home every day. He missed the photographs he had scattered about his room in Grimmauld Place but Harry had already been given a picture of himself beside Lily and James for his mantle.

The picture frame in Harry's quarters was of a peaceful lake surrounded by trees covered in cherry blossom. It was often inhabited by Salazar Slytherin as well. He and Harry spoke often. The founder was astonished at the similarities and differences between the two universes. For Harry, Salazar was perhaps the only being to whom he would tell everything. He was dead and had little real interest in the current state of affairs; he had seen centuries pass and would see many more. Though what he had been told about his 'heir' Thomas Riddle from the other universe had truly shocked him – the man had not gone quite so far in this one.

Hermione was going to be at Hogwarts for a few more days. They had agreed to meet up as much as possible and after that they had decided that they would write to each other by owl as they wouldn't get to see each other very often after that. Harry would be assisting Severus with classes and schoolwork and Hermione would be returning to University, continuing her five year course.

The two friends met up in the library later the following day, Harry had assisted Severus in the lab earlier that morning but the man had told him he could go when he mentioned meeting Hermione. 'Severus is acting a little strange,' Harry noted absently as he walked into the library but the thought was quickly lost as he began an animated conversation with Hermione.

Harry also failed to notice a certain figure who watched them leave Hogwarts for Hogsmeade but Hermione, who was facing that way, did not. Her keen eyes spotted the dark figure of the Potions Master as he paused in crossing the corridor to observe them. Yet she couldn't make out the expression on his face. 'It almost seemed sad,' she thought. But she shook the thought out of her mind and continued the animated conversation they were having about their favourite lessons over the seven years at Hogwarts. Hermione was still enraptured by the first charms lesson, as she had been the first one to perfect Wingardium Leviosa. But the Transfiguration lesson that had featured McGonagall transforming into a cat and then teaching them how to access their own inner beast was a very close second. Whilst for Harry his favourite lessons, once he had a chance to think about it because the ones he had really enjoyed were after he had left Hogwarts and therefore couldn't really tell Hermione about, were the Defence lesson on Hinkypunks with Remus and the Potions lesson where Snape hadn't yelled at him, just ignored him because he had finally managed to get a potion correct.

By the time Hermione left for her room later that night she and Harry were confirmed best friends. She had not had a best friend at Hogwarts, though she was popular enough in her House for her intellect. The rest of the school, the Gryffindor Ronald Weasley in particular, had mocked her, calling her a know-it-all. Hermione readily admitted that she was perhaps a little too eager to give answers in class, however, she had worked hard at allowing others a chance to answer and now only put up her hand after a 20 seconds pause.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long. My beta was kinda busy so I've decided to post this unbetared. Hope there's no big mistakes, I went over it myself but it's much harder to catch your own mistakes.

Enjoy!!

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**Chapter 6**

Hermione had arrived on the twenty ninth of July. Her second night Harry performed his birthday ritual as he did every year. He stayed awake watching the clock he had conjured until it hit midnight before he whispered to himself, "Happy birthday Harry."

For some reason it was important for him to do this, it had come to mean something to him. Sure, his friends had always done something to mark the passing of another year but for most of his life he had lived with the Dursleys and they certainly did not celebrate his birthday and once the war started for real there was never really time for things like that.

The day passed normally enough, Harry aided Severus in the making of a burn paste before being sent off to Madame Pomfrey for a check up, she declared him nearly perfectly healed.

"Is there any pain remaining?" She asked as she pressed non-so-gently on a particularly deep scar on Harry's chest.

The birthday boy considered carefully, his pain threshold was so high that he simply did not register pain until it reached a certain level, his mind blocked it out as it had been trained to. "There is a slight discomfort but truly Poppy do not worry yourself over it."

Madame Pomfrey tutted at him condescendingly, she had grown quite fond of this Harry Potter. He was an interesting patient. He obeyed her orders, however unwillingly, but always mocked her with a light in his eyes that showed he was only joking with her. His tolerance to pain was quite extraordinary, the only one she had ever encountered akin to him was Alastor Moody. Tapping him on the arm she indicated that he could put his shirt and robes back on.

Suddenly she recalled the date, "It is your birthday today is it not?" Lily and James Potter had always been so quiet on this day, as well as the 31st of October, remembering the son they had for barely a year.

Harry blinked in surprise. She knew his birthday? "Yes, it is." He replied evenly.

After passing him a potion that would cleanse his blood, the last of the list of potions he had been required to take since his release from the hospital wing and Poppy Pomfrey's care, the elderly matron smiled, "Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thank you." Harry returned her smile and then headed back to the rest of the castle. He had been given the rest of the day off by Severus so he was headed to the library, now he was no longer a student he had access to the Restricted Section, and like Hermione, was taking full advantage of it. He would be meeting up with the young witch later that afternoon.

The Ravenclaw arrived right on time to the Great Hall for lunch, Harry had not yet gotten there, Lily and James Potter waved her over and whispered to her, switching to a different conversation when Harry arrived.

Later that day, Lily asked her 'son' to come to their quarters at eight o' clock.

Harry agreed easily. It was a common enough invitation. He thought nothing of it and continued on to the lake to meet Hermione.

Come eight o'clock Harry arrived at the portrait of a young girl watching a flock of sheep that guarded the Potter's rooms and knocked on the door that she revealed to him. Lily answered the door and ushered him in quickly.

It was dark. Before he had a chance to cast lumos he heard people should, "Surprise!" And the lights came on.

After putting his wand away, Harry still did not react well to being startled; he looked to his beaming parents and asked in a small voice, "What's going on?"

Lily seemed rather put out She would have thought that was obvious. "It's your birthday, Harry dear. Surely you did not think that we would simply ignore it."

When the young man flushed slightly and glanced away they all realised that was exactly what he had thought. What that revealed about his previous life was rather disturbing but they refused to dwell on that today.

They had spent the day decorating their rooms. Red, gold, silver, green, blue, yellow, purple, and orange balloons were floating around, randomly letting out the happy birthday tune when they hit something. A banner saying Happy 20th Birthday was hanging over the fireplace. Beside it was a picture of Harry that he did not recall being taken though it was quite clearly him and taken in the last couple of weeks.

Harry was led to the couch and took his seat as guest of honour in the lounge. The giving of gifts commenced much to Harry's embarrassment. Sure he had received birthday presents before but generally the giver had not been right there in front of him, that was usually at Christmas and then everyone had presents. It hadn't just been him.

Lily and James gave their present first. They had thought hard about it and decided to compile a photo album of the past nineteen years of their lives. It was decorated with sketches by them both along with comments and anecdotes about each photo. They had also gone to the Potter vault and retrieved the heir ring, traditionally given to children on their seventeenth birthday.

"We realise you might not want to wear this openly, it would raise a lot of questions, but it has a glamour cast over it. Only those who know you wear it will be able to see it." James correctly interpreted the look on Harry's face when he saw the platinum ring engraved with the Potter seal.

With a smile on his face Harry slid it onto his right hand. It felt like it belonged, a flash of magic told Harry that it had several old charms on it too. He had never seen this ring before, never knew it existed. He hadn't exactly had the time to go looking through the vaults in his universe.

"Thank you. It is lovely." He gently ran his finger over the engraving once before looking up at his parents, emotion clearly visible in his eyes.

Lily hugged him tightly before backing away and allowing Remus and Sirius to give their gift. Sirius held out his empty hands with a grin, "She didn't react well to being wrapped so we decided that she could introduce herself."

His husband whistled and an owl came flying through the open window. She landed in front of Harry and stared at him in interest, taking his measure.

For his part, Harry was stunned. It was a white snowy owl. His own beloved Hedwig had been shot down by the enemy months ago but this owl could have been her twin. Could it possibly be the same owl?

Remus saw Harry's confusion and said, "We went into the Emporium and this one just flew straight over to us. Landed on Sirius' shoulder. Wouldn't be moved as much as the owner tried. Apparently she had arrived there a week previously and had bitten anyone who had tried to go near her. I like to think that she knew who her owner should be."

"Hedwig?" Harry breathed. Tears filled his eyes but he would not allow them to fall.

The snowy owl tilted her head and then hooted, accepting the name. She hopped onto her new owner's shoulder and after nipping his ear affectionately was content to watch the rest the proceedings.

"Thank you, Remus, Sirius. She is beautiful."

Hermione had also gotten him a present, she had been informed about the party, by the Potters who had known about her sudden friendship with their new charge, that afternoon. Without the ability to go shopping beforehand she had given him her Hogwarts yearbook. It held pictures of everyone in her year, a little personal info, their NEWT score and their current choice in profession, it was also self-updating, like Hogwarts, A History.

"I thought that considering that these were actually your year mates as well it would be nice to know what happened to them." She confessed with a blush as Harry flicked to the page that displayed Ron Weasley. It said that he was currently in Auror training. 'Big surprise there.'

"It was a nice thought, Hermione. Thank you. Now I can see what they are doing here."

Her reply was interrupted by a knock on the door. Lily went to answer it. She came back and said it was for Harry.

With a look of confusion he went to the door. Who would be asking for him?

It was Severus. Surely Severus had not gotten him anything. Had he? Did he even know when his birthday was? He had given him the day off yes but had that not been random?

With a look of embarrassment, Severus handed his assistant a rolled up parchment before he could say anything.

Harry took it with a small smile. Breaking the seal, which he noticed was the official potion master's seal, he opened the parchment. What he read made his eyes wide. He looked up to Severus and breathed, "Really?"

On receipt of a nod Harry launched himself at the Potions Master. He hugged the man and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before regaining his senses

He bowed, "I thank you for this opportunity, Master Snape. I hope to learn much from you and to never disgrace your name."

"Come down to the lab tomorrow morning, I shall begin your instruction." Snape bowed slightly back before turning on his heel and leaving.

Harry understood that the man would not have wished to be invited in and respected that.

He returned to the living room and was bombarded with questions.

Holding up his hands for it to stop he answered them, "Severus has just taken me on as his apprentice."

Lily gave a squeal and ran over to hug Harry who was beginning to get used to this action from the older woman, she seemed to like hugging him a lot.

Hermione, from her seat in the corner, was busy piecing together clues. Who was Harry Evans? 'Is that really even his name?' She believed that Harry was. And his eyes were just like Lily Potter's, his hair just like James Potter's. Could he really not be related to them in any way? 'From a parallel universe as well...My age. The Potter's have taken him in. They treat him like a son, even throwing a party for his birthday..Oh dear Merlin. Could he actually be their son? His birthday is the same day as Harry Potter's. He looks like them. They seem so much happier since he arrived.' The Ravenclaw saw that Harry was about to blow out the candles on his cake. She took the opportunity to actually examine his features. Yes he resembled both of them. So not a cousin of Lily's as she had overheard from one of the professors but then Harry himself had told her that his being from a parallel universe was only known to a select few.

She sung Happy Birthday mechanically. Gazing at her old professors everything clicked into place. He was Harry Potter. 'How did he get here? How was he alive? Did Voldemort not go after him in his universe?'

Harry happened to glance up at her and his eyes grew wide at the understanding and recognition he saw in her eyes. He shook his head at her, his own eyes pleading for her to keep quiet.

She nodded, but she would want some answers later. She was prepared to wait. For now, it was his birthday party.

It was the next night before she got her answers. Impulsiveness was not one of Hermione's traits. She was patient. Though she craved knowledge she was able to wait until the time was right for it to revealed to her.

For his own part Harry was surprised that she had not demanded to know everything before now. His Hermione was never able to wait. This Hermione was slightly different. More patient. A Ravenclaw, not a Gryffindor.

But her patience was rewarded. She got some answers though perhaps not as many as she had hoped for. Harry told her that yes he was Harry Potter, he had not died like his counterpart here had, that he had reflected the killing curse because of his mother's sacrifice and lived. He said that he had been transported here by accident, a merging of spells. But that was it. Other than small questions Harry would not tell her anymore.

"Were we friends?"

Harry's eyes darkened, "Yes. You and Ron Weasley were my best friends. All three of us were in Gryffindor."

She pulled a face. Ron Weasley! He had tried to make her days at Hogwarts a living hell. Surely she could never have been his friend. But when she tried to ask more about it Harry would not tell her.

"What does it matter, 'Mione? You are not her. Knowing about her life would not be good for you. Any comparisons you would try to draw would be meaningless. For her life was shaped by different things than yours. She was not you anymore than you are her. Similar but different. Live your own life and be happy with it."

The Ravenclaw gazed in surprise at her friend. How could someone so young be so wise? Yes, now that he explained it she knew she would look and compare their lives, perhaps even do things simply because the other Hermione had even though they would be things that she would not.

"Alright then Harry. I won't mention this again. You are Harry Evans." To forget that would be dangerous. She knew Harry well enough to know that he did not want to draw attention to himself and to be revealed as Harry Potter would surely draw that.

Hermione had only come for a week and for her last days she and Harry only met up at mealtime and for drinks at night in Hogsmeade. Harry was occupied in the lab and with research projects and Hermione was busy in the Restricted Section that had been calling to her since she had been a student. She continued her work on dark charms and spent a lot of time in meetings with her old professors, Flitwick in particular. He was exceedingly proud of his pupil.

On her last night they were sat in the Three Broomsticks. "So Harry, what was your life like before?" She was a little drunk.

Harry, only very slightly tipsy himself, answered with a smile, "I guess it was pretty normal, you know, people trying to kill you, fighting to win the House Cup, catching the snitch, huge snakes petrifying people, Death Eaters pretending to be professors."

Hermione froze.

He laughed. "Relax 'Mione."

After a second she laughed with him yet there was something telling her that he wasn't actually joking. 'What kind of a world did you come from Harry?' It sounded horrible. No wonder he seemed so guarded. It hadn't escaped her notice that he had sat them in the corner of the pub with no one behind them and a clear view of the door.

The door that Professor Snape had just walked through. He didn't seem to spot them straight away but Harry caught his eye motioned to their table. With an expression that only Harry could decipher as torn Severus slowly approached their secluded corner.

"I trust I am not intruding?" He asked smoothly.

Hermione shook her head, as the comment had seemed to be directed at her, "Not at all Professor. Harry and I were just having a drink to send me off. I return to university tomorrow." She explained.

Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement, "I believe you were working on your thesis?"

"Yes. A study on how dark charms only differ from light ones because of their intent."

And so began a debate on charms, spells and even potions that continued some hours. Harry was glad for his tutoring in his world or he would never have been able to keep up with the conversation.

The intelligent witch excused herself from their company at eleven o'clock. Harry offered to walk her back to Hogwarts but she insisted that he stay in the pub. And so Harry and Severus were left sat at the table in the Three Broomsticks.

"Miss Granger is a very intelligent young witch." Severus commented, watching his companion out of the corner of his eye.

Harry agreed, "Yes, she is. I'm so glad that I could meet her here."

The older wizard tilted his head slightly, "Did you know her before?"

He nodded. "She was one of my best friends. It is almost as if nothing has changed. But I cannot forget the sight of her lying on the floor of the Burrow after the raid. Poor Ron was devastated."

"Ronald Weasley?"

"Yes. They were married."

"Weasley and Granger have never been an item. He used to mock her at school and I believe during their first years he often made her cry."

Harry smiled, the people were the same but how different their lives were. He hadn't asked Hermione about anyone he used to know and she had certainly never mentioned Ron but still, Hermione without Ron, it was odd. 'But then again, Quirrell was never DADA professor so there was never the troll and we never had to go rescue her and Hermione wasn't even sorted into Gryffindor in this world. "It's weird. Knowing all these things about people but it didn't actually happen to them and they have no idea about any of it or who I am." Harry confessed. He had obviously drunk more than he had intended.

"I suppose it is to be expected. No one has ever travelled to another universe, to common knowledge. I hope you do not regret your decision to stay. "

Harry looked up into Severus' eyes, "Never."

Severus had drunk more than Harry. Perhaps because of that he misunderstood Harry's meaning, "I suppose not. All the people you cared about are at least alive here and you can re-build relationships with some of them. Miss Granger as a prime example." You see our dear Potions Professor had convinced himself that Harry and Hermione were an item, or if not yet then it was only a matter of time.

His companion was not willing to get into this at the moment, he understood what Severus was not saying but decided that it would be best to wait, at least till the man was no longer intoxicated, to explain his leanings. "I think we should be getting back to Hogwarts, Severus."

The elder man nodded and, after downing the remainder of his drink, rose steadily to his feet and headed for the door with Harry following behind him.

They walked up to the castle in a companionable silence. Harry was thinking about the time he had actually done this with the old Severus Snape. They had only once actually gone out to drink and had been attacked by Death Eaters on their way back, after that Snape had refused to go anywhere with him if alcohol was going to be involved. Though he had to admit, even drunk Severus was really in control of himself. The only way to tell he was even under the influence was the slight shining of his eyes and the fact that he was more likely to speak his mind.

Severus, on the other hand, was distracted by thoughts of the beguiling young man walking beside him. 'Why did I sit with them? And why did I drink so much?!' He thought to himself furiously. 'Oh yeah. Couldn't stand seeing them together without alcohol.' It didn't occur to Severus that what he had witnessed was simply two friends having a drink. The man had convinced himself that there was something between them.

Severus saw Harry to his door, it was on the way to his chambers.

The younger man hissed the password and then turned to his companion. "Goodnight Severus."

"Goodnight Harry." Before Severus carried on walking the portrait of Salazar Slytherin had reappeared and smirked knowingly at him. The Potions Master sneered at the founder before sweeping down the corridor to his own chamber, desperately trying to keep the image of Harry undressing for the night out of his mind.

Harry said goodbye to Hermione the next morning. When she was gone Harry finally managed to explore Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He had the morning off from his apprentice duties. The chamber opened as easily as it had in his second year. Though this time Harry had the sense to cast a thorough cleaning charm on the shoot before sliding down it. There were skeletons littering the floor like last time. They crunched underfoot as Harry carefully moved towards the tunnel, cautious because he knew the basilisk was still here in this universe.

He soon found himself in the great antechamber where he had faced the young Tom Riddle. Still the basilisk had not shown itself so Harry called out to it, [Basilisk, please show yourself.]

The stone mouth of Salazar Slytherin opened and it appeared slowly, [Who calls me?] The snake was just as big as he remembered. Adrenaline began pumping around his body as he took in the huge figure.

Harry cast his eyes down, avoiding eye contact with the deadly eyes, [I do. My name is Harry Potter.]

The snake came to a stop before him, [It has been many seasons since there has been a speaker come to me. Why are you here?]

[I wish to make sure that the nestlings at the school are safe from you.] There was no word for children in Parseltongue, the closest translation Harry could get was nestlings.

The basilisk's head moved from side to side in what Harry took to be anger, [I would never hurt nestlings. I was put here to protect the young ones that live above.]

'Yes, the very large snake with the ability to kill with a single glance was angry. Well done Harry. Good job.' But he had to get an answer. [Yet there was someone, about 60 years ago who released you and a nestling was killed.]

There was remorse in the hissing, [I did not mean to kill her. I told her to close her eyes but she did not understand me and looked straight at me before I had managed to lower my second eyelids.]

[Wait.] Harry interrupted, [You have two eyelids?] Shock entered his voice.

[Of course. We only use our true gaze to hunt prey. You may safely look at me now, Harry Potter.]

Still in shock Harry lifted his gaze and finally looked upon the giant snake. It was easily 40 feet long.

[Do you have a name?] He suddenly realised that he could not keep calling it snake.

The basilisk loved its head in what was unmistakeably a nod. [My first master called me Hamila.]

'So it is a female.' [Hamila, what do you do during the sun hours?] Again, there was no literal translation for day either.

[I have been in hibernation for many years, Harry Potter. You awoke me with your call.] She paused for a moment, her tongue flicking out, tasting him.

The silence echoed around the hall. Harry could not help but notice that Hamila was a wonderful specimen of a snake. Her scales alone would make Severus happier than Harry had ever seen him. He wondered if he could convince her to allow him to take some of her sheddings.

She appeared to come to a decision. [Harry Potter, would you be my bonded?]

Harry froze. Bonded? [What does that mean?]

Hamila coiled herself into a ball and lowered her head closer to Harry's. [It means that I would be able to tell if you were in danger. I would protect you and in return I would have you to provide me with food and shelter. It is a magical bond and can only be ended by the death of one.]

The young wizard was still confused, [Why would you want to bind yourself to me, Hamila?]

[You remind me of my first bonded. You are strong and will care for me.] She obviously meant Salazar Slytherin.

'Well when you put it that way…' [Alright Hamila. I will be your bonded.]

Before he could even process the movement Hamila struck. When Harry came to he felt a burning pain in his shoulder and felt something resting on his stomach. It was a miniature basilisk. [Hamila?]

[Yes, Master?] The snake raised her head and flicked her tongue out to check he was alright.

He groaned as he raised himself onto his elbows. He had a killer headache. [What did you do to me?]

[We are now bonded. I had to bite you to bond us.] Her tone was patient, as though explaining something simple to a child.

Harry just had one more question, [How are you smaller?]

[I became this size during the bonding. I would be of no use to you at my previous size.] Hamila was now about a metre and a half long.

Now over his dizziness Harry attempted to stand; Hamila wound herself around his neck comfortably. Looking around the huge chamber for the first time Harry realised that it wasn't as big as he had remembered. The first time he had been here he hadn't exactly had much time for examining the place; he had been too busy fighting for his life.

The doorway which Hamila had come through was still open and there was a small light coming from it. Harry walked to it and discovered a small office. It was very cosy. A roaring fire, no doubt due to magic, which had kept the office warm enough for Hamila to sleep peacefully for so many centuries. There was a portrait on the chimney. It was currently blank but Harry had the sneaky suspicion that this was where Salazar went when he disappeared from guarding his chamber. Sneaky bastard. He'd told Harry that he went to visit an old friend. 'I guess that is true.'

Deciding to come and investigate more closely at a later date, it was getting late, Harry left the chamber and conjured a ladder to get back to the surface.

He dropped Hamila off in his room before rushing to the Great Hall.

Lily Potter called out to him, "Harry, where have you been all day?"

Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to tell everyone about the Chamber and Hamila, he would introduce her but just not as the basilisk that had been living underneath the school for the past thousand years. Instead he said, "I was solving a problem before it became one."

Everyone who heard it frowned in confusion but Harry refused to answer any more questions.

He seated himself next to Severus as usual, the only person who had not questioned him.

A few minutes passed before his companion turned his head slightly and muttered, "I guess you are mourning the loss of Miss Granger? The two of you seemed to be close."

Harry picked up on the subtle undertone of the comment and frowned slightly. Hadn't Severus picked up on the fact that he was gay yet? "I miss my friend yes but not in the way I believe you mean. Hermione is the wrong gender for me, I'm afraid."

A look of surprise crossed the Potion Master's face before he schooled it into nonchalance. "You are homosexual?"

Finding it hard to contain his smile Harry nodded, "Obviously."

"So you're not interested in Granger?"

Poor Severus, he didn't seem to be able to get passed that. 'He must have really convinced himself that we were involved.' "No, Severus. I'm not interested in Hermione. There is, however, someone I am interested in at Hogwarts."

Severus simply nodded before turning back to his plate, face carefully blank. That was the last he mentioned of it.

It was a week later before anyone found out about Hamila. Severus had come to Harry's chambers for drinks and a talk as had become their custom since his apprenticeship had begun and was waiting for his apprentice to get ready when the snake had slithered out of Harry's bedroom and headed straight for him.

Harry had told her of his feelings for the older man and she was curious to 'taste' him for herself.

The Potions Master failed to notice the snake coming towards him but when she wound herself up his leg he certainly didn't. He froze in horror; he recognised the snake as a deadly one though he wasn't entirely sure of the species. Severus attempted to remain calm while carefully reaching for his wand.

Hamila used the conveniently placed appendage to lever herself higher. She was now level with his face. Her tongue flicked out at him.

By this time Harry had realised that Hamila was no longer in the room with him and rushed into the living room.

He saw the panic on Severus' face and called out, "It's alright, Sev. She likes you. She won't hurt you."

Sensing her bonded close by Hamila turned and hissed, [He desires to mate with you, Master. I can taste it. His pheromone levels rose when you entered.] She slid down to the floor and over to wind herself around Harry's shoulders, she hissed in his ear, [Why do you not take him as your mate? I am sure you would have strong young.]

The blush that spread across Harry's face made Severus curious even though he was still in shock.

[Things are different for humans, Hamila. I cannot simply mate with him. There are other things to consider too. He may desire me but I do not know if he would want me as a mate.] It was difficult to explain such human concepts to a snake. Things were so much easier for them; eat, sleep and mate, though not always in that order.

Severus interrupted, "Perhaps I should return at a more convenient time?"

Harry burst out in Parseltongue, [No!] He caught himself and changed into English, "No, please stay Severus. I apologise. I would like to introduce you to Hamila. She was Salazar Slytherin's bonded serpent and he left her in the Chamber of Secrets, that is where I went last week when no one could find me."

The elder man frowned in confusion, "I thought you said that Slytherin had left a basilisk in the Chamber."

With a grin Harry replied, "He did. Hamila bonded herself to me and that is why she is so small. Her natural size is about 40 feet long."

Severus blanched. He had looked straight into the snake's eyes as it had 'smelt' him. 'How could I still be here? Everyone knows that the gaze of a basilisk is deadly.' "And her eyes?"

"Ahh. I wondered at that as well. Apparently she has two eyelids. They only use their killing gaze for hunting prey. They do not have to kill."

Now intrigued Severus moved closer to the snake lying placidly across Harry's shoulders bent on examining her.

Hamila revelled in the attention, [I like your mate, Master. You have chosen well.]

Once again Harry flushed red, Severus noted. He raised a dark eyebrow in questioning.

Harry coughed, "She likes the attention."

Severus didn't believe that was what she had said but left the subject alone. Recalling something Harry had said earlier he repeated it with a smirk on his face, "Sev?"

He decided that the blush looked positively edible on Harry and had to stop his thoughts from wondering just how far it spread. You see our dear Potions Master had once again got the wrong idea. He had now convinced himself that it was Steven McCloud that Harry was interested in because he had spoken to him at dinner a few times. It was inconceivable to him that Harry might be attracted to him. Harry Potter simply couldn't be interested in Severus Snape.

"Sorry about that. It just slipped out."

Severus shrugged, "It's fine." No one had called him 'Sev' since his mother had died.

The smile that he was graced with in response warmed his heart. Merlin, he wanted this young man!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The students were here. Fresh off the Hogwarts Express. Harry heard them coming before the doors to the Great Hall opened and allowed their entrance.

As the students filed into the Hall they caught sight of the new addition to the Staff Table and whisperings of his identity, purpose and looks immediately sprung up at every table. Harry swallowed nervously, the only sign of his discomfort. He had faced Voldemort's masses without so much as a flinch, he would not be undone by mere school children.

A few minutes, long ones in Harry's opinion, later Professor McGonagall came striding in, a trail of small first years behind her. Harry wondered if he had ever been that small, then, recalling he realised that he had indeed by that small, in fact he had been smaller. He had always been one of the smallest in his year, by seventh year Ron far outstripped him and even Hermione had a good few inches on him. Even now he was barely 5' 8".

The hat soon got all the students sorted. Hufflepuff received the most, followed by Gryffindor, then Slytherin and finally Ravenclaw. There had been some surnames that Harry recognised from his world though none that he had been very friendly with.

The headmaster stood up once everyone was seated correctly, "Good evening everyone, no doubt you have all noticed the new addition to our staff. This is Harry Evans, he is Professor Snape's apprentice and he will be assisting Professor Snape in your potions classes. You will, of course, refer to him as Mr Evans."

"Good job I went with Evans. I can see it would get confusing with three Potters around." Harry commented quietly to his stoic neighbour before standing up and giving a short bow. He received a loud applause, mainly from the older female population who saw a handsome young wizard for them to drool over.

Harry tried to distract himself from the eyes. "Severus, what is the first class tomorrow." Merlin, how did the professors handle it every day? It was incredibly disconcerting to have hundreds of eyes upon you. Harry knew that he had been guilty of the exact same thing during his school years; he had looked to the professors for any clues to learn what was going on at the time.

"Third year Gryffindor/Slytherin. Not my worst class." Snape answered cordially. He saw his companion's discomfort and felt for him. It took some adjusting to, and no doubt Harry would have a lot of the student population looking at him, he was a stranger to them and a very attractive one to boot.

Harry suddenly found himself glad that he had graduated two years previously and had not known many students below him at Hogwarts very well. 'At least Ginny has left.' Harry had been the one to find her after the raid. Her lifeless body still haunted his nightmares. Clearing his mind with a now practiced ease Harry inquired casually, "What potions will you be teaching tomorrow and what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing too complicated, a simple boil reducing potion. If you could walk around the class and observe them I would be grateful. Anyone who can help to prevent explosions would be sent from Merlin."

"Of course, no problem."

Harry was glad when Dumbledore stood to give his traditional end of feast speech, "Twitter, oddball, squeak," and dismissed the students. The curious eyes trotted obediently off to bed.

The following morning at breakfast something happened that gave Severus hope. He had arrived slightly later than usual as he had been kept by a potion and Professor McCloud was already conversing with Harry. As Severus took his seat he changed his mind, 'More like flirting scandalously with.'

He overheard him ask, "So Harry, do you want to go out for a drink this Friday, celebrate the end of your first week as teacher's assistant?"

With rather more interest then he would admit to Severus listened to Harry's reply.

"I'm sorry, Steven. I'm not interested. There's someone else." Harry quickly left the Great Hall.

Severus watched Harry go with wide eyes. He had been sure that it was McCloud. There were only two gay professors at the school, unless Harry had meant a student. 'But no, that wouldn't make sense. Harry didn't know anyone here. But if it wasn't McCloud and it wasn't a student…wait a minute. I'm the other gay professor at Hogwarts!' The bemused Potions Master glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed his odd behaviour. No one had, luckily. But then Lily Potter turned her head and looked straight at him with a smile and winked. Winked!

He grabbed a cup of coffee and a piece a toast before sweeping out of the Great Hall. He needed some time to think before his first class turned up. And Harry.

Once he was safely ensconced in his dungeons, Harry hadn't yet come down, Severus began to think. Could it be possible that Harry was interested in him? He was the only other gay professor at Hogwarts and Harry did spend a lot of time with him. The possibility of more from their friendship gave a warmth long since absent to Severus' heart.

A smirk spread across the pale face as Severus considered how he could truly find out whether Harry was interested in him but it would have to wait until tonight. For now he controlled his emotions and pulled on his teacher's face.

It was just in time too because twenty seconds later Harry walked through the door. "Harry." Severus greeted with a friendly smirk.

Harry gave him a small smile in return, "Severus. Ready for the torture to begin?"

The student began streaming in, the last one just through the door as the bell rang. Obviously the children knew their Potions Master well. Harry surveyed the class. The students still sat in their houses, Gryffindor on the right, Slytherin on the left. 'Some things never change', Harry thought dryly. He didn't recognise any of the faces, thank Merlin. Being the teacher figure in this setting was strange enough as it was without him knowing any of his students.

Severus stood and strode out from behind his desk. "Well then, shall we see just how much you have managed to forget during the summer? Turn to page 113 in your books. You have one hour."

There was the usual rush for the stock room and then they all settled down to prepare their ingredients. Harry walked around the class as instructed. Eyes were drawn to him, and not just the Potion Master's. Girls and boys alike were furtively watching the stranger in the dungeons, their teacher's apprentice. He was attractive, beautiful even. His walk was graceful, like that of a dancer. Or rather a dueller but the children did not know that.

Severus watched as Harry met the eyes of one of his Slytherin girls, the chit actually blushed. Harry just frowned slightly and quickly moved on; once he was far enough away he cast a pleading look at Severus. He received a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk in reply.

Harry had never really spoken about it but Severus could imagine that as their 'Boy Who Lived' he had been quite popular. His often very innocent reactions confused Severus slightly. Surely Harry knew how to handle admirers? He must have had enough of them.

Class progressed quite well. Severus managed to stop two separate explosions, his worst students in the class, in time. While their teacher was occupied one Slytherin student took advantage and threw an extra ingredient into a Gryffindor's cauldron across the room.

Harry, however, spotted it right away. He stopped the flying beetles' eyes in the air and summoned them into his open palm. After gazing at the innocuous items curiously for a moment he banished them back to the store cupboard. "Ten points from Slytherin." He spoke in a low voice but they all heard him anyway.

The Gryffindor's on the other side of the room grinned evilly at the Slytherins. Obviously this new Potions assistant was not a snake like Snape. After a few minutes they took advantage of their professor's turned back and retaliated for the failed sabotage attempt by flinging their own unnecessary ingredient into the offending Slytherin's cauldron.

Once again, Harry did not fail to notice the silent war going on. He had been the victim of the Slytherin's actions more times than he could count. The ex-Gryffindor refused to allow this stupid animosity to continue. It was dangerous in the lab. So he summoned the fairy wings into his waiting hand. "Ten points from Gryffindor." Harry refused to treat them differently. "Now that is enough. The next person to attempt the sabotage of another's potion will serve detention tonight." He was serious in the threat, however much he did not want to have to give someone a detention on the first day back he would.

The right side of the room looked at the stranger in shock. They had thought he was on their side. 'Well, the Gryffindor's will learn quickly enough. I don't favour any house. Not anymore. All the houses have their merits.'

Severus, not quite as oblivious as he had made out, had to hide a smile at his assistant's announcement. He had feared that Harry might favour his own house and had purposely kept his back to the young man. But it seemed that Harry was treating their students equally. Severus admired that. It was not easy to throw off house loyalty he knew, he, himself, was known for his favouritism of the snakes but he was after all their head of house and no one else stuck up for the ambitious house so he felt justified. Though his snakes knew, or he had thought they did, not to cross him or he would more than deliver on his threats.

The rest of the lesson went quite well. Both Harry and Severus walking around aiding the students meant that the one possible explosion was prevented. The children left the room full of gossip for the rest of the school about the hot new Potions assistant.

In-between classes Severus turned to Harry, "You're doing very well. The students listen to you yet you don't scare them witless." He had a smirk on his face.

Harry laughed, "No, I thought I'd leave that to the seasoned professionals. I actually like teaching so it is really quite fun."

"Just you wait. I'm going to start giving you the first through third years essays to mark. When you see what those dunderheads come up with you'll be begging me to kill them for you."

They were interrupted by the entrance of the next class. Seventh year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuffs.

Severus noted with amusement that all his students were checking out his assistant. He deliberately sent Harry out among the students this time, very few of them actually needed help but they kept putting their hands up for assistance just to get him to come over to them. Nearly all the girls and about half of the boys had lust in their eyes. The Potions Master wondered if Harry had even noticed, he seemed rather oblivious at times.

When their eyes connected Severus knew that Harry had indeed noticed the interest in his person. As he fielded yet another personal question he shot Severus an annoyed look, clearly asking to be saved. The older wizard finally took mercy on his apprentice and called him over.

"It looked like you needed rescuing." Severus commented under his breath so that only Harry would hear.

Harry rolled his eyes. "They'll get over it soon I'm sure, once they realise that I'm nothing special."

'You are special, Harry.' Severus banished the stray thought almost as soon as it entered his mind. He wanted a relationship with the younger man but knew that it was best if he moved slowly. Harry did not strike him as the fling type. That was why, at the end of the very long first day, he invited him to his rooms for drinks. It was their custom, nothing new. Harry accepted.

During dinner Harry's parents questioned how his first day went.

"It was fine. No explosions."

James laughed at that. Lily just smiled. She had seen the students chattering and sneaking glances toward her son. Student crushes were common, especially when there was a new addition to the staff, but usually short lived.

Harry caught a curly-haired seventh year Gryffindor glancing at him and when he caught her eye she turned beetroot red and started whispering heatedly with her friend.

Unfortunately for Harry, Severus also noticed the girl's reaction. He bent his head closer to Harry and murmured, "Poor girl, she doesn't even stand a chance. Though I have to admit, I've not had this much fun in the Great Hall since Mr Parkinson was believed to have a crush on Minerva four years ago because of a note she found hidden in his homework. The Weasley twins had planted it."

Harry blushed at the feel of Severus lips so close to his ear, the warm air brushing his face. "Be nice, Sev." He murmured back.

After a trip to the Owlrey to visit Hedwig and send her off with a reply to Hermione's letter, Harry made his way down to Severus' rooms. Severus let him in with a smile.

"So did you enjoy your first day with the brats?" He asked.

Harry smiled widely and took a seat in the large armchairs near the fire that he had begun to think of as 'his'. "They're not that bad. But it was nice to see that some things never change."

"Like what?" Severus asked him as he bent to fetch the whiskey out of the cabinet.

"The Slytherins and Gryffindor's still try to sabotage each others' potions behind your back." Harry grinned. He took the offered glass and sipped the amber liquid slowly, letting the warmth permeate his system. Even though Severus' rooms were heated by a roaring fire the walls were still icy cold to touch, a downside of living in the dungeons. But one both Harry and Severus was willing to put up with in comparison to the seclusion and quite rooms, their attraction to the privacy loving wizards.

Severus shook his head in exasperated fondness, the interactions between Gryffindor and Slytherin never changed. It had been the same in his day. Maybe with Harry here it might improve to the stage where Severus was no longer considering casting containment charms around each of the benches to prevent sabotage.

The elder wizard sat down opposite his apprentice, "You did well today, Harry. Firm but approachable and I saw how you stopped Miss Jenkins' cauldron from blowing up. Very well done, I'm proud of you."

Harry blushed slightly. His Snape had never said that he was proud of him; the dour man gave compliments silently, by not insulting you. That this Snape could and would give him praise so easily highlighted the differences between the two universes. Harry found himself much more drawn to this more open Snape that the closed off one he had first been attracted to.

As they talked more on class topics and Harry's learning schedule the level of whiskey in the decanter lowered. Now pleasantly tipsy the conversation switched to more personal topics.

Harry decided to pry, "So, when did you find out you were gay?" He, of course, knew of Severus' leanings even if the man had not told him personally.

Colour infused the elder wizard's cheeks. He blamed the whiskey. "I always knew I was not the same as the other boys in my dorm. I did not desire any of the girls. I did not desire anyone for that matter. I guess I was a late bloomer. It was only when after I left Hogwarts that I found someone I was interested in, a fellow potions apprentice. We dated for a while but it did not last." He coughed. "And you, when did you realise?"

"Well, I did go on two dates with girls but neither went anywhere. There was something missing for me. I didn't really have time to think about my sexuality. I only realised that maybe I should try a guy when Hermione mentioned my lack of success to me in passing." Harry laughed. He had been rather surprised by the thought at the time but then he considered it and it felt right.

They continued to talk until Severus' wall clock struck eleven, announcing 'Bedtime'. It was, after all, a school night.

Harry stood, putting his now empty glass down on the coffee table. "I'd better go."

Severus also stood. "Let me see you out."

Harry felt the blood rush to his head. He didn't usually drink; he only did it with Severus, both his old mentor and his current one. He felt safe here in a way he didn't anywhere else, with anyone else. But he had never drunk so much as to be incapacitated. He would not be able to break certain habits easily.

With his parents he would accept a glass of fire whiskey when offered but that was all he ever drank when with them. If he was completely honest with himself then he would admit that it was because even though he knew that these people saw him as their son he did not really know them, he had been spending time with them ever since he arrived but it was not the same as being raised by two people. 'Besides, does anyone like to drink around their parents?' He thought curiously.

He made his way to the door and opened it before turning around to face Sev. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Harry."

Neither moved for a second and then they were kissing. Who kissed who first they didn't know but it felt wonderful.

It was quite chaste and over with in under a minute. Harry smiled at Severus questioningly, getting a smile in answer.

He lent forward and kissed his 'lover? Yes lover' on the cheek, "Good night, Sev." Then Harry left to return to his own quarters.

"Goodnight." Severus whispered to the empty corridor. He went to his bedroom with a smile stretched over his face.

'A mother's intuition was a wonderful thing', Lily Potter thought with a smile as she looked over at her baby boy and colleague the following morning. Something had changed between them, she just knew it. There was a new knowledge in their eyes, an understanding between them.

Feeling eyes on him Harry turned around to catch his mother staring at him with a wicked smile across her face. She winked and he felt his face flame. She knew! Oh god, he had never known how mothers could be embarrassing to their children. 'So this was how Ron felt with Molly?' He suddenly realised. He quickly turned back around and whispered, "Sev, we weren't keeping this secret were we? I think she knows!"

The Potions Master seemed confused for a second before he too met the amused eyes of Lily Potter. 'Ahh, I see.' "No, we have no reason to keep it a secret. Discrete yes, but not a secret."

He was rewarded with a blinding smile from his younger soon-to-be lover. Harry had no desire to be overtly affectionate in public but he didn't want to have to hide as though they were doing something wrong. Harry Evans had nothing to hide. There was no media to disapprove, no fans to send howlers. He could do what pleased him. And that was certainly what he was currently doing.

Severus gave him a small smile in return.

The next day's classes went well. Harry was developing something of a reputation for being fair, no matter what the house, but all the students liked him anyway. He was much more willing to explain than Professor Snape, and wasn't half as scary. Of course, the fact that he was, as one sixth year Gryffindor said, drop dead gorgeous certainly did not hurt his reputation, perhaps that was the reason some of the students paid such avid attention but as long as they did Harry didn't mind. Part of his embracing his Slytherin nature was using what he had in order to get what he wanted.

That night Severus turned up at Harry's front door, he had with him a bottle of scotch. Harry smiled at his mentor. "Come in".

As soon as the Potions Master had taken a seat, as had become her custom, Hamila slid onto his knee and began hissing at him. Severus didn't understand a bleeding word but occasionally Harry could be persuaded to translate for him. More often than not the young man simply refused and would not look Severus in the eye.

Severus held the opinion that on those occasions the snake was saying things that embarrassed the young man in some way. After all, he knew that they were wizard and familiar. That was a strong bond.

[The two of you have mated now, have you not? I can smell the difference.] She hissed at the Potions Master.

Harry chose not to translate the comment but did answer it, [We have agreed to pursue a relationship, 'Mila. We have not mated yet in that sense.]

The small basilisk shook her serpentine head at her bonded human, [Why wait? He is ready to mate and you are young.]

[Because we need to build a foundation before we jump into mating, Hamila. I wish it was as simple for us as it is for you. Human mates live together for the rest of their lives, my dear.]

Hamila was sure that it did not need to be as complicated as her bonded made it out to be but she wisely kept her mouth shut, her last bonded had been the same, everything was a big issue. He had left the school, left her, simply because of an argument with his nest mate, it could not have been that bad yet he never returned, though she had waited for years. It was only many years later that his portrait came to talk to her, breaking her loneliness.

Severus, feeling a little left out, and if he was completely honest more than a little turned on at the sibilant sounds coming from his younger lover, coughed and said, "What are the two of you talking about?"

The younger man blushed, much to his embarrassment. "Hamila was just saying that she was glad that we finally admitted that we have feelings for each other."

A black eyebrow rose. 'I don't believe that for a minute but I'll let him get away with it for now.' Instead he just patted Hamila on the head gently. Not for the first time Severus wished he had the rare ability to speak the language of snakes.

[Tell your mate that I approve of him.] Hamila instructed.

Harry flushed slightly, "'Mila says she approves of you, Sev."

The snake turned her head towards Harry, [But he took his sweet time in claiming you.] If snakes could smirk this one most certainly would be.

"But...but you, erm, you took your time in 'claiming' me apparently."Harry stammered.

Severus looked from the young man to the snake on his lap. She was staring at him intently. He nodded at her, he understood. Who needed to be a Parselmouth?

Hamila slid off his lap and disappeared into another room.

"Come here, Harry."

Feeling flushed, Harry did as he was bid. Within seconds of his bum touching the seat there were lips upon his own. Moaning softly at the first brush of a tongue on his lower lip, Harry opened his mouth in welcome.

They continued to kiss for a while till Severus moved his hand onto Harry's upper thigh and the younger man jumped in shock.

Severus pulled back slightly confused. He took in the overwhelmed look on Harry's face and quietly asked, "Are you alright?"

Harry took in a couple of deep breaths, "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't mean to...jump. It's just that..." He trailed off blushing again.

Wondering what could possibly have made Harry skittish to physical contact Severus let his mind ponder over a few possibilities. He had been raped or abused in the past? 'No, he would have mentioned that. Plus he does not act like a victim of that.' But if he had not been abused then why. Surely it was not a normal reaction for him whenever someone touched him sexually. 'Wait!' What if he had never been touched? 'He couldn't possibly be a...' "You're a virgin?" He asked in surprise.

Bowing his head so that he couldn't see the ridicule on his potion master's face, Harry nodded.

Severus lifted his hand to Harry's cheek.

Startled, the twenty year old looked up. What he saw was not amusement or even disgust on Severus' face but, what was that? Surprise, shock and...pleasure?

"Surely you had someone in your world."

"No. The only person I have ever wanted has been you." Harry used his Gryffindor bravery and kissed Severus on the lips. The first kiss he had initiated on his own.

The older man kissed him back but mentally wondered, 'Me or the other me?' But after a minute he decided that he didn't care. Harry was here with him now; he knew who Severus was in this universe. He had even said that he was different. Harry was not going into this with blinkers on, he knew he was not the Severus Snape he had grown up with. Severus kissed his lover back with passion, this time keeping his hands moving slowly over Harry's back, away from his groin. They would go slowly. He could wait.

It was several hours later when Severus returned to his own quarters, it was a Friday so they had no need to get up early the next morning to teach.

Both men went to bed thinking of the other.


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. Sorry guys, again this chapter is unbetared. Any mistakes are my own, no matter how hard I try to search them out some always manage to get past me. I'm really trying to get this fic finished asap because I'm starting university in October and won't have much time to spend on FanFiction after that. So sorry if anything seems at all rushed.

**Chapter 8 **

Lily Potter was acting strangely, Harry decided as he was eating breakfast. The students had been back for nearly a month now and Harry was getting settled into teaching. The children had mostly gotten over their crushes and his apprenticeship was going well. Severus seemed pleased with his progress and had even started giving him the fourth year essays to grade, though Harry was unsure if that was to give him added responsibility and practice or simply because Severus truly hated marking.

But his mother was still looking at him with that smile. 'What is she doing?' Harry did not understand women, they communicated on a completely different level. Thank Merlin he was gay. At one time Ginny had tried to attract him but her attempts at flirting just left Harry confused and wondering if she had anything in her eye. It had taken Ron and Hermione telling him that she fancied him for the innocent Gryffindor to twig. He had blushed for an hour apparently. But he had let Ginny down gently and under a month later she had been dating his roommate, Neville, she had really brought him out of his shell. He had been an excellent member of the Order.

He turned slightly to his lover and whispered, "Sev, why is Lily looking at me like that?"

Severus glanced over at his colleague, with a faint snort he muttered to his lover, "She wants you to confide in her, Harry. About our relationship." He added.

"But I'm pretty sure that she already knows," Harry was confused.

"That doesn't matter. She is your mother, biologically, even if she did not raise you herself, and she wants her son to tell her that he is seeing someone. Women love details."

Frowning, Harry nodded. He was meant to be going to their quarters tonight. 'I'll tell her then, I guess'. The twenty year old now ex-orphan felt that tonight would come much sooner than he wanted it to. The couple left the great hall for their first class, fourth year Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw.

***

The time had come. Time always flew when you didn't want it to. Harry made his way to his parents' chambers at eight o'clock that night.

His mother met him at the door and hugged him, she did that often, Harry had gotten used to it, Molly Weasley had been similar. After all, Lily had lost over nineteen years with her son, now that he was 'back' she wanted to recapture the lost time. He hugged her back with a smile; in truth he enjoyed it as well. He had spent nineteen years without his mother's love. It was nice to have them here, it was his first year wish all over again. The Mirror of Erised had depicted it perfectly. Only he was older now.

James waved at him from the couch; he wasn't nearly as tactile as his wife. "So, how are you enjoying teaching, son?"

"It's great, dad. But I did have some experience to begin with so I only had to learn how to discipline them really." Harry sat down opposite his father.

Lily sat down next to her husband, "When did you teach, Harry?" Was there anything he hadn't done? Wrestled trolls, killed dark lords, and flown a hippogriff. Her son had led quite an interesting life. She feared he might get bored here in the castle in their world, where things were calm and uninteresting the vast majority of the time. His appearance was the biggest thing in over ten years. She didn't want him to leave.

Harry smiled in recollection, "Fifth year, we had a terrible DADA professor so Hermione talked me into teaching a group of students to get us through the exam."

"I take it they all passed?" James saw the proud look on Harry's face.

He nodded, "With flying colours. Five of them became Aurors. And as far as I know nearly all of them fought for us in the Order." Not to mention most of them were dead.

His parents smiled at him. Then Lily spoke up, "So Harry, how is your apprenticeship going? Are you and Severus still getting on well?" The look on her face told Harry that she knew exactly what she was asking.

His face heating up slightly Harry nodded, "It's going very well. Severus is a wonderful instructor." He paused. Lily looked expectantly at him so he continued, "I suppose I should tell you that Severus and I are .... erm .... well .... we've begun a ... erm ... a relationship."

The elder male Potter's face froze slightly. Then he frowned. "A relationship?" James' voice showed his confusion.

"Yes. We're seeing each other."

"Oh, that's wonderful, darling." Lily gushed happily. "The two of you make such a cute couple. Don't you think so James?"

He didn't look like he thought so but James nodded and agreed anyway after a warning look from his temperamental wife. Harry hoped that his father would accept it soon.

"But you have to remember to keep your relationship and your apprenticeship separate, my dear. He may be your boyfriend but he is also your master, he can only be one at once." Lily cautioned her son.

"I'm well aware of that, mum. Don't worry, I know when our relationship doesn't apply. I'm not going to have a problem with that and I doubt Severus will either."

"So, when did this start?"

Harry decided that discretion was the best way to go, "It's a pretty recent thing to be honest." 'Two weeks six days.' His mind informed him helpfully. "So, dad, how are the Defence classes going this year?"

His attempt at a conversation change was eagerly latched onto by James who wanted only to forget what he had just heard.

The green eyed man left an hour later, he had an early mentoring session with Severus in the morning. Thank Merlin it was Wednesday, nearly weekend, Harry wanted some alone time with his lover. He was going to be busy marking the younger year's essays for the next couple of nights.

When he got back to his room Hamila was curled up before the fire waiting for him. [How did they take the news then?] She hissed.

Harry sat down beside his bonded familiar and basked in the comforting heat of the fire, [My mother took it well, she already knew. But my dad was surprised. He is not a fan of Severus and I doubt he will ever be really.]

As Harry and his snake talked, James was on his knees in front of the fire. Almost as soon as his son had left he had decided to firecall Sirius and Remus.

Within two minutes the Marauders were together in the Potter's living room. Lily was glaring at her husband with disapproval while Remus just looked confused.

Sirius, as usual, cut straight to the point, "What's up?"

His oldest friend huffed, "Harry's seeing Snape."

Sirius gaped. Remus just exchanged a knowing look with Lily, after Harry's strong defence of the man he had suspected that he had feelings for him. He mouthed to her, "How long?"

"He says it's a recent thing." She gestured back. "But I think almost a month."

By this time Sirius had come out of his stupor and was enraged, drawing James in with him.

"Harry and Snape? That can't be! Snape has to have given him something. We need to get Poppy to check him over." Sirius was all for storming to the dungeons and forcibly dragging Harry to see the mediwitch. It took Lily and Remus stunning the two Gryffindor men to stop them. They levitated their captives over to the couch.

Lily towered over her husband and his best friend. "James Ignatius Potter, Sirius Orion Black, I am ashamed of the both of you. It has taken nineteen years for us to get Harry back and now you are trying to dictate who he can and cannot date to him. We did not raise him, as sorry as I am for that. We are not his parents in the normal sense of the word. We did not heal his bloody knees when he fell over. We didn't buy him birthday presents every year. And we certainly have never had to deal with his teenage crushes, his broken hearts, his teen rebellions. He is a grown man, well aware of what he wants and needs and he wants Severus Snape. Who are we to say he cannot have him?" She trailed off, breathing heavily.

From his position behind her shoulder, Remus was strongly reminded of their own Hogwarts days. The fiery redhead had often stunned and then berated the dark haired pranksters. He put in his own commentary, "Guys, I think Harry knows what he is doing. He has been through more than we can imagine, more than most wizards twice his age, a fling with someone his own age wouldn't be right for him. He wants maturity, something Severus can give him. Besides, he was a soldier. No doubt he will still have nightmares or be twitchy occasionally, who better than an ex-spy to deal with that, to understand him." Remus still remembered that he had landed on the floor stunned when he and his husband had startled Harry the night they met. Harry was a battle-hardened solider, not a coddled twenty year old boy.

The redhead released the stunning spell, "Well, what do you say?"

Her husband spoke up first, "I know we didn't raise him, Lils. We never got to see his first day of school, never got to tuck him in after reading a story. We never even got his first word. But he is still our son. However, I will accept that we can't dictate his romantic relationships. That doesn't mean I'm happy with it though." He had a petulant tone that made Lily think of when he had been told off by their professors twenty-five years ago.

Sirius wasn't quite as accepting, "But Lily, Mooney, it's Snape!" He backtracked quickly when Lily raised her wand again, "But I won't do anything about it," She lowered it again, "All I will say that if he hurts a hair on his head then James and I get first dips on the greasy bastard."

The two level headed ones nodded their agreement. If Severus hurt their baby then he would be punished. But Lily doubted the Potions Master would, she had never seen him act like this with anyone. The man's eyes lit up when they lighted upon the younger man. He smiled as they conversed. Snape had even begun to speak more to the other professors, had become slightly sociable. And she had no reservations that it was all due to Harry, her baby's influence.

Remus, for his part, decided that they all needed to see the couple interact in order to be happy, "Why don't we invite everyone over for dinner Saturday night, Siri? We can tell Harry to bring Severus and then we can all see for ourselves whether they make a good couple or not."

After thinking about it for a minute Sirius nodded, "Alright."

"No pranks." Remus said definitively.

Sirius' shoulders drooped, "You're no fun anymore, Mooney." He pouted.

The following morning Lily and James struck. They met Harry on his way up to the Great Hall for breakfast, something that should not have happened considering that their rooms were closer to Gryffindor Tower than the dungeons so they had to come over to the other side of the castle to 'bump' into him. Still Harry hid his suspicion and greeted them warmly. Lily chattered on about inconsequential things, Harry nodding and generally agreeing with her, until suddenly she said, "So you will come round to the Marauders Den on Saturday night won't you, love. Of course you'd have to bring Severus."

Harry stopped dead. His eyes wide, "What?"

James couldn't help it. His son looked like a dear in the wandlight. He burst out laughing.

Lily shook her head at her husband's antics. "Remus and Sirius darling, they have invited us all round for dinner on Saturday night. They haven't really seen much of you and want to get to know you better. Since they know you're seeing Severus they extended the invitation to him as well."

The green eyed man felt trapped. There was no way for him to refuse. These were his parents and godparents. And he had had such a nice weekend planned with Sev too. Would the older man forgive him? Would he even go? "Alright mum. But I'll have to see if Severus wants to go."

"Of course, dear, of course." The grin that spread across her face was blinding.

Harry suddenly decided that he didn't feel much like breakfast, made his excuses and got out of there as quick as humanly possible. He went straight to the labs. Knowing that Severus was going to be there, brewing supplies for the Hospital Wing before the first class of the day.

He barged into the room, startling the brewing man, not that he'd ever say so. "We have a problem, Sev."

Blinking the Potions Master cast a containment charm on the cauldron he had been overseeing and turned to his agitated lover. "What is wrong?" Severus had never seen Harry like this. The young man was usually so unflappable it was making Severus nervous to see him like this.

Harry looked Severus in the eye, "We've been invited round to Marauders Den for dinner on Saturday. I have no doubt that it is intended as a way to analyse our relationship in a private setting."

'Grimmauld Place? Wasn't that where Sirius Black and his werewolf husband lived?' "Black and Lupin?"

His partner nodded, "Yes. I mean my mum and dad will be there too but yeah. They invited us."

Severus sighed softly, "I take it we have to attend." They had planned an excursion into Muggle London for that weekend but obviously that would have to be cancelled.

Harry frowned slightly, "If you don't want to go I'll make your excuses." But there was a hint of hurt in his eyes. He had never asked Severus for anything before and he wouldn't even go to a meal with him. Severus caught the look.

He tried to make it up to his lover, "Of course I don't want to go. What man ever wants to sit in a room with his lover's parents and godfathers all night?" Without a pause he carried on, "But I'm not going to abandon you to them and let them think that everything they ever thought of me was right. I'll be there by your side all night, Harry."

A small smile had lighted upon Harry's lips. "Really?"

The older wizard nodded.

Harry ran over to him and kissed him passionately. When they pulled back Severus commented with a smirk, "Just be glad there are no Snapes to deal with."

Laughter rang out in the dungeons.

The next few days went by in a blur for Harry, he was scarcely aware of the marking he did. Even the students noticed a difference in him. He still attended to their lessons without fail and assisted them when they required but it was almost mechanical, not the teaching assistant they had become accustomed to with sparkling eyes and warm smile.

One particularly concerned Gryffindor actually stopped him in the corridor between classes and enquired what was wrong.

Harry almost laughed, "Nothing is wrong, Mr Owen. Thank you for your concern but everything is fine."

The boy didn't look completely convinced but nonetheless he nodded and let Harry walk on.

That evening when he went down to Severus' chamber as usual he commented on the boy's concern. "I had not realised I had been noticeable in my distraction."

"I believe that the only reason the students noticed is that you are currently their favourite professor, they pay special attention to you. Mr Owen, in particular, has a crush on you."

Harry's face lit up in a light blush.

A wicked smirk broke out across Severus' face. "Imagine the looks upon their faces if they knew of us."

"Then they would start speculating on the particulars of our relationship and I for one do not want to have to face those whispers in the classroom." Harry frowned in thought.

Severus shivered at the idea, "No indeed not." That was one of the reasons for keeping their relation discrete. Students did not think of their professors as sexual creatures as a general rule, when confronted with obvious proof denying this fact they usually went over the top. The older man turned to his lover and kissed him. Drawing back he spoke softly, "No, I would definitely not wish those insolent cretins to be discussing us like potion ingredients." Then he kissed Harry again.

They stayed like that, necking like teenagers, for some time before they broke away, both aroused. Harry's hand caressed Severus' face, it was relaxed and content in a way he had never seen on the other Snape. A softer kiss later, Harry decided that he was very close to falling in love, if he hadn't already. The thought scared him a little, anyone he had ever loved was dead, but here there was no Voldemort, no danger. Here he could love Severus and the only thing he had to worry about was this bloody dinner tomorrow night. Still, he kept his revelation to himself. They had not been seeing each other for that long, declarations of love, no matter if felt or not, weren't needed in his opinion.

Seeing as it was a Friday Severus decided that he would ask Harry if he wanted to spend the night. Not in a sexual way, he knew that Harry wasn't ready for that yet. But to sleep next to someone was an intimate act too. So he asked.

He was shocked by his answer. Harry had almost thrown himself over Severus in his excitement. Then he had blushed a wonderful Gryffindor red and started stammering his apologies, ashamed of his actions. Sometimes, though only occasionally, he did things that showed his true age. Severus found them endearing and truth be told, he was glad that Harry didn't seem to have been too damaged by the war he fought. He was still able to laugh, to blush. 'To love?' His mind whispered traitorously at him.

Severus couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. A deep, throaty chuckle. Once he composed himself he couldn't resist teasing his younger lover, "A bit eager there, Mr Evans?"

"Always, Mr Snape." Harry recovered enough to reply.

"Perhaps we should retire then, Harry." Severus suggested with a small smile.

He showed Harry to his bedroom, a large green four poster bed dominating the space. There were small tables either side of the bed, each with a lamp on, it was obvious which side of the bed Severus generally slept on as that table was covered in books.

Before awkwardness could set in the Potions Master called for a house elf.

A small creature with the Hogwarts crest on its tea towel appeared, "What can Moffy get for Professor Snape sir?"

"Could you bring Mr Evans' night time things, please?"

"No problem, Professor Snape sir, Moffy is doing that right away. Moffy is fetching Mr Evans sir's night time things. " She disappeared with a quiet pop.

Harry looked to Severus with a smile. The exuberance of house elves never failed to amuse him.

Moffy reappeared within a minute hand placed some space clothes for the next day on the chair in the corner, vanished the toothbrush to the bathroom and then turned to Harry, "Moffy is very sorry Mr Evans sir but Moffy could not find sir's pyjamas."

A light blush coloured Harry's cheeks, "its fine Moffy, you wouldn't be able to find any as I don't wear them."

He couldn't move his gaze after the elf bowed and left, knowing that the dark gaze of his lover was on him.

There was a slight clearing of the throat and then he spoke, "You do not wear pyjamas?"

The younger man shook his head in a negative. "No, I sleep in my boxers normally."

Aiming to ease his lover's embarrassment Severus commented, "Ahh, that is understandable. I had wondered myself if I would have to find the top to the sleep pants I generally wear to bed. Now I see there is no need." He gave Harry a smirk. "You may use the bathroom first, it is through the door on your left."

As Harry prepared for bed, Severus located his sleep pants from the drawer where the elves placed them every day and removed his shoes and socks.

They exchanged places as Harry exited the bathroom in just his boxers, having deposited his clothes in the hamper within. Each man, however, had taken his fill of the view of the other.

Hoping he wasn't being presumptuous but feeling too awkward to do nothing Harry climbed into the bed on the side with the bare bedside table, pulling up the covers, the dungeons were rather cold after all. He felt his heart beating, it felt like it was trying to break out of his chest and do a tap dance on the dungeon floor.

Severus took a couple of minutes in the bathroom to calm himself. It would not do to scare Harry, the man might be twenty years old but he was innocent in sexual matters. He was well on his way to loving the smart, kind, funny younger man and had no desire to ruin this relationship by moving too fast. He would even face dinner with the Potters and Lupin-Blacks for Harry. No small feat.

Once he was in control of himself he opened the door and stepped out into his bedroom where he spotted Harry, curled up in his bed. The image looked perfect to the previously lonely man. With a small smile at his lover Severus crossed the length of the room and climbed into the bed beside Harry, who turned to face him.

"Thank you for letting me stay over, Sev."

Severus captured his lips in a kiss as a response.

After a little bit of manoeuvring they found a position that was comfortable, Harry with his back against Severus' front with Severus' arm draped over him.

"Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Severus."

By the time morning came around their positions had changed slightly. Harry woke first, used to raising early. His first coherent thought was 'my pillow feels different'. He reached his hand over and suddenly realised why, his head was being cushioned by his lover's chest. When he tried to move away he found he could not. Severus' arms were around his torso, holding him in place securely. Deciding that he liked this position, Harry lay his head back down and dozed lightly.

An hour later Severus awoke. The first thing he was upon opening his eyes was Harry's head on his chest. He tightened his arms around the younger man for a second, alerting the dozing Harry that he was awake.

Harry turned his head to look at Severus. "Hey." He commented sleepily.

"Morning."

The younger of the two men lifted his head and leaned in to kiss the lips of his lover.

It was about thirty minutes later that they finally got up out of bed to prepare for the day ahead which they spent together, talking, kissing, brewing and reading comfortably in silence.

It was after dinner that night when Harry finally returned to his rooms. As he stepped through the door behind the portrait he nearly fell over Hamila.

The basilisk had reared up on her tail like a cobra and was hissing angrily, [Where have you been? You did not return last night. A creature smelling like your food appeared and took some of your clothes and you never came back. Never told me where you would be.]

Harry felt thoroughly chastised. He had not stopped to consider Hamila, he knew that she had mild abandonment issues after Salazar had left her, no matter that after his death his portrait had often come back to speak to her, to explain why he left. He kneeled on the floor and hissed apologetically, [I am truly sorry I did not inform you as to my whereabouts Hamila. I got caught up with Severus and forgot that you would be concerned.]

'If snakes could sniff disdainfully then this one most certainly would be', Harry thought.

[Next time I expect to be informed, my bonded.]

Harry nodded, hearing the underlying threat. If he failed to do so he would encounter much more than just an angry basilisk. [Certainly, my dear. Now, are you hungry?]

Upon receiving an affirmative he called upon a house elf who delivered to his room a large rat, already dead. The elf had a look of mild distain on its face, they had tried to feed Hamila other things but this was what she insisted on having.

Just before she unhooked her jaw Hamila paused to ask curiously, [So, did you have an enjoyable evening?]

The snake's bonded just blushed and left her to her rat.

Sniggering softly the shrunken basilisk concentrated on her meal. Humans were so easy to rile.

**

Harry was panicking. It was six o'clock and he was pacing the length of his loving room, Hamila curled up on the couch hissing comfortingly at him. Salazar was in the portrait above the fireplace observing the unusual behaviour from the young man.

He heard a knock at his frame and quietly went to investigate.

There was Severus, dressed in a hunter green shirt and black pants, looking quite calm.

"Why is Harry panicking at the moment? All I can get out of him is broken fragments." Salazar asked the Head of his House.

The Potions Master's eyes widened. 'Harry was panicking? Why?' "Well we have been invited to dine with his parents and godparents tonight." That was the only explanation he could come up with but Harry had not seemed worried earlier when they had parted. "Would you permit me entrance, Lord Slytherin?"

Salazar thought about it for a second. Severus did not have the password. But he knew that Harry would not deny him entrance and the young man really needed him at his moment in time so he ignored the rules of guardianship and nodded, revealing the door a second later.

Severus opened the door slowly. When he stepped in he saw the state Harry was in and was hard pressed not to laugh. He had never seen his apprentice or lover so nervous. On every pass of the couch Harry would hiss a reply to whatever Hamila was saying.

It took only a couple of seconds for Harry to realise that he was no longer alone with his basilisk familiar. His head snapped up, [Severus,] he hissed, [how did you get in here?]

Slytherin, now occupying his previous spot above the fireplace, answered for him as Severus had no hope of understanding the snake tongue Harry was spouting, [I let him in, young one. You need to calm down. It is only dinner.]

[How is it only dinner? This is going to be an interrogation, only without outright torture it will be subtle, laced with kindness and well meaning. Why did I agree to this?] Harry had stopped pacing now.

Severus went over and caught his lover in an embrace. He whispered in his ear, "Listen Harry, this is your family. There is nothing to worry about. They love you, nothing you did could stop that, even dating me. They have spent nineteen years without you, they will not risk losing you now. All they want is what is best for you. Calm down."

The shorter man rested his head against Severus' chest, listening to his heartbeat. The two remained there for nearly ten minutes before Harry started laughing.

The two Slytherins in the room looked at each other in confusion. Had he lost it?

Harry broke out of the embrace and sat down on the couch beside Hamila who slithered onto his lap, still laughing. The confused look on the face of his lover and door guardian made him laugh even harder.

Wiping tears from his eyes he apologised. "Sorry, sorry... I was being an idiot wasn't I?"

Severus broke into a smile, it made his face look younger. "Yes you were. I'm glad you've gotten over it. I take it you have never had to deal with taking a lover home to your parents?"

His lover shook his head, "No, never had a lover to take home before. Molly and Arthur would probably have acted just like Lily and James are though."

"Molly and Arthur? Weasley?" Shock laced Severus' voice.

"Yeah. They kind of adopted me into their family, Sev. I was Ron's best friend." He caught sight of the clock. "Anyway," he stood up, "come on. We have to go."

Before he could move anywhere Severus moved in and kissed him soundly. After breaking away he answered the unasked question, "I won't get a chance to do that for some time now."

Harry smiled at his lover and pecked him on the cheek before leading the way to the door. [Bye Hamila, Salazar. I'll be back later tonight.]

[Have a good time tonight, young one.] Salazar encouraged him.

It had already been arranged between them that Lily and James would meet Harry and Severus at Hogwarts' gates. Harry had not yet been to Sirius and Remus' home so he did not know the apparition coordinates.

Both Lily and James came forward to embrace their son. Severus hung back at the display of family affection. But while Lily also extended her embrace to Severus, which made him rather uncomfortable, James took a more distant route and put out his hand.

With a brief look at Harry, Severus also out his hand forward and shook the appendage of his lover's father, his old school bully.

In an action that was apparently pre-decided by the Potters Lily moved to take Severus' arm and James took Harry's to apparated them to their destination for the night.

It was James that knocked on the door to the house of two out of three of the Marauders. It was answered by both men.

Remus and Sirius welcomed Harry with hugs, Severus was greeted by Remus with a handshake and by Sirius with a slight nod and a glare.

The group was led inside by the couple. Sirius joined them in the living room while Remus returned to the kitchen to check on dinner. They had no house elves, Remus didn't think it necessary. Sirius might have but one look at his husband had convinced him otherwise.

Once they were settled comfortably Harry asked a question that had been in his mind since they arrived, "So how long have you lived here then?"

"About fifteen years or so." Sirius replied thoughtfully. "Before that we were in this poky little flat in the centre of London."

"What about Grimmauld Place?" Harry was curious what the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and his home for two years was in this universe.

"Grimmauld Place? The ancestral Black home? It is shut up. I closed it when I inherited. There are some dangerous things in there."

"Not to mention that portrait of your mother in the hallway." Harry quipped with a smirk.

Sirius started. "I see you've been there."

Lily and James were looking on in faint surprise. Harry had never told them where he had been trained. They had assumed that it was Hogwarts or somewhere in the ministry.

The young man nodded, "You gave it to the Order to function as their headquarters. I was trained there for two years. No offense but your mum really was a bitch."

"Harry!" Lily was shocked.

Sirius placated her, "It's ok, Lils. She was. Anyone manage to get rid of her in your world?"

A wicked grin broke out over his face as he replied, "I did. Blasted her right out of that damned portrait and then burned the thing."

"Well done. Bat deserved it I'm sure. Oh yeah, dinner's ready," Remus appeared at the door.

Harry and Severus went into the spacious dining room last, following the others. The table was circular, Harry noted absently.

That meant that he was seated next to his mother and lover while facing his godfather. Severus on the other hand found himself with Remus Lupin-Black on his left side and James Potter opposite him at the table.

'The arrangements could most definitely have been worse.' He thought wryly. If he had been seated next to Sirius he could not have promised that the evening would go smoothly. As it was Lupin was a much more acceptable choice than his husband.

Remus had already set the food out on the plates. He had made a roast beef dinner, a typical English dinner.

It looked lovely and Harry informed Remus this with a smile. 'His own Remus Lupin had not been much of a cook, generally more of a toast or sandwiches kind of man.' Apparently this Lupin had learnt how to cook during the last twenty years.

"Thank you Harry." Remus responded to the compliment with a wry glance at his husband. If Sirius was allowed in the kitchen while Remus was cooking then the result was never good. The man either started adding unnecessary ingredients or telling his werewolf mate that something looked wrong.

The group began eating, odd comments interrupting the silence.

"So, dad, tell me. Was the Triwizard Tournament held at Hogwarts in what would have been my fourth year?"

James Potter nodded, "Yeah. That was the year the Hufflepuff boy, Diggory got chosen."

Harry felt a lump appear in his throat, "Did he win?"

The elder Potter shook his head, "No, Victor Krum from Durmstrang won. Bloody good flyer that boy. Plays for Bulgaria now."

Lily looked at her son, "Who won in yours, darling?" If she didn't get it wrong, and to be honest she rarely did, something about that knowledge had upset her Harry.

"Well, technically I did. But Cedric Diggory and I drew really. We agreed to make it a draw, a Hogwarts win." Harry's eyes went dark with memories.

Under the table, Severus placed his hand on his lover's knee to comfort him. Damned if he was going to let Harry be upset and not, even if this was the mutt's house.

"Will you tell us about the Tri-Wizard Tournament in your universe, Harry? We will tell you about this one, if you wish." Lily had an understanding look in her eyes but Harry really didn't want to talk about this.

"It doesn't matter what happened in my Tri-Wizard Tournament. The one in this universe is the one I should know about. I'm sure it was a highly publicised event, therefore it would seem odd if I didn't know anything." Harry pointed out.

He saw the faces around the table frown, all except Severus'. 'Was that too harsh?' Harry wondered.

Surprisingly, Sirius was the one to let it drop, he launched into a dramatic re-telling of the events five years ago. Punctuated by short arguments with James about the accuracy of his story.

He had everyone close to crying with laughter, except Severus of course who merely chuckled quietly occasionally, with his replaying of some of the tasks.

It seemed that they were not all that dissimilar from his own. Dragons made up the first task. However, it was not the mer-people that the second task involved getting past. That had been different, instead of going after what they would miss the most the competitors were challenged with going into the Forbidden Forest and locating a baby phoenix, Fawkes in fact, as he had just experienced a burning day.

However the third task was the same, though without the sabotage that Harry's had contained. The winner, Victor Krum had taken the trophy and that had caused the maze to disintegrate, leaving him stood in the middle of the now bare Quidditch pitch holding his prize high. There had been no attacking of the other champions by those under the Imperious.

When asked about his own Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry would only reply that his second task was different, he had to go into the lake to retrieve something but other than that the tasks were the same. He refused to answer any further questions, stating that, "You do not need to know about another universe. That world is no longer my own. I have to know about this one. Learning about my past, about what happened to the people in my universe can only serve to upset. Be content with your lives here. Please." His pleading emerald eyes tugged at the heartstrings of everyone present.

For his own part, Severus agreed with Harry. He had no desire to know about the life of the Severus Snape Harry had grown up with. That man had experienced a completely different set of events for the last twenty years than he had. A person's experiences moulded them, therefore this Severus was not the same one as the other.

The rest of the group, however, had not yet reached the same conclusion, they wanted to know about the events of Harry's life. Not thinking that perhaps Harry wished to forget them.

In an attempt to assist his lover, Severus struck up a conversation with Lily about their school days, which the Marauders quickly joined in on.

It was close to one o'clock the following morning when the Potters and Severus returned to the castle. Lily and James left the couple at the foot of the stairs in the entrance hall.

Harry and Severus headed off to the dungeons. They came to Harry's room first. Salazar was waiting there.

[Well, how did it go?] He asked Harry curiously.

"It was fine Salazar, just as you and Hamila predicted. We ate and we talked."

"Though I will admit that we were watched for any signs of strange behaviour," Severus interrupted. "I got the dirtiest look off Black when I put my hand on yours. Almost made me want to keep on doing things just to see his reaction but I resisted."

Harry shot him a grateful look, "Thanks." He didn't know what the man would have done if provoked by Severus.

"Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight Sev."

They shared a brief kiss before Harry entered his room and Severus continued on down the corridors to his own quarters.

As Severus was lying in bed that night he found that he missed Harry's presence by his side. Maybe he would see if the younger man wanted to make their 'sleepovers' more of a common occurrence. 'Tonight was not too bad.' He thought. 'But then, I would do pretty much anything to please Harry.'


	9. Chapter 9

A.N. So sorry about the long wait guys. I hope that you can forgive me. I am swamped with work from my course. Anyway – no more excuses, here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Don't know when the next (and last most likely) chapter will be up. I've got it all planned out but finding the time to write is proving impossible. As always all reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed.

* * *

Chapter 9

Harry and Severus were sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast, most of the students had not made it down from their dormitories yet. It was just a month into the school term, a Monday again, but the couple were already settled into a comfortable routine. They spent weekends together as partners while weekdays they focused on work and Harry's apprenticeship. Perhaps it was odd, but it worked for them. So far they had managed to keep their relationship secret from the students, Harry's family knew, although so did the rest of the faculty. They had found out by accident, Lisa Owen happened across the couple while they were sharing a kiss in the lab. However, once they had all recovered from their shock, Steven most of all, their relationship had been accepted without difficulty. Albus Dumbledore still twinkled unbearably when he saw them together, having, or so he said, seen it coming all along. Once or twice Severus and Harry noticed Steven McCloud sending them incredulous looks. He had been astonished the Harry had preferred Snape over him.

A regal looking hawk owl swooped in through the open window for the post owls and headed straight for the Staff Table. It deposited a creamy envelope beside Severus' plate and landed on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Aristo." Severus greeted the bird and handed it a chunk of bacon rind from his breakfast.

The owl took it delicately in its beak and flew off again.

Unsurprisingly to Harry, Severus did not open the envelope at the table, instead he put it in his robe pocket and carried on eating.

It was later that night when Harry discovered what the owl had brought. During his usual apprentice 'lessons' Severus informed him that it had been an invitation.

"To what?" Harry inquired.

"To Draco Malfoy's twenty-first birthday party."

Harry shouldn't have been surprised, even in his world Severus Snape had been friendly with the Malfoys. It was Severus' next comment that surprised him.

"Would you like to accompany me?"

His mouth fell open for a second before he recalled himself. It was not unbelievable for him to attend Draco Malfoy's birthday party as Harry Evans, Severus Snape's lover. Not like it would be if it was his world and he was Harry Potter. Severus had no idea of the animosity that had existed between himself and Malfoy. Here he could go and no one would know him, there was no past for him to deal with. Hardly ever before had Harry really appreciated just how free this new world made him. Here he really could just be who he wanted to be. Go where he wanted to go. Do whatever he wanted to do.

Eventually he made his reply, "Yes, I would love to, Sev."

Severus frowned slightly. His whole demeanour switched into an inquisitor one. Harry had taken quite a while to respond and something was off in his tone. "Is something wrong, Harry?"

The younger man laughed. "No, nothing is wrong. Nothing at all," he sobered. "Everything is finally right. In my old world I would never have been able to do things like that with you. Even if the Malfoys had been in a position to throw a birthday party, I could never have attended."

He blinked. 'The Malfoys weren't in a position to throw a party? Oh, of course.' "Due to the war?"

"Well I suppose that would have been a consideration before. However I was referring to the fact that all the Malfoys are dead, although I am not quite sure what happened to Narcissa Malfoy."

The Slytherin man was taken aback. The Malfoys dead. "Were they Death Eaters?"

Harry nodded. "The men died in the final battle."

Severus swallowed loudly. The fatalities and realities of war had long since become foreign to him. To hear them spoken of by Harry in such a way was shocking. Yet, he had become more accustomed to it recently. He would not stop Harry from speaking of his old life if he wished to but he would respect his privacy otherwise. Though he was aware that Harry did sometimes choose to share more of his past with him than with his 'family'.

His lover noticed the change in Severus' mood and mentally berated himself. Severus did not need to hear of his war. That was not this life. It was the past. It was over.

"Forgive me. I realise the Malfoys here are alive and well. Shall I also assume that they are not Dark supporters and that you are also Draco's godfather?"

Severus acknowledged Harry's attempt to change the subject and carried on with it. "Indeed. Lucius was never publically found to be a Death Eater and he and Narcissa have become rather influential in the government, they also donate heavily to charity."

A smile and a nod and the topic was over. They would attend the birthday party planned for the following weekend.

That night, as Severus lay in bed alone, he contemplated that his lover had only just celebrated his twentieth birthday while his godson was just about to turn twenty-one. They would have been in the same year at school. Harry would have been in the same year as a Draco Malfoy. Some would find that sick but he knew that Harry was much older in his mind and soul than Draco was, never having lived through a war or wanted for anything. Obviously it would have been better had Harry been closer in age to himself but since wizards were so long lived a twenty year age gap was not so bad. It only seemed weird while Harry was so young. One hundred and sixty compared to one hundred and forty after all was perfectly fine.

Harry, on the other hand, was busy thinking over how he should act around the Malfoys. Should he be merely civil or actually pleasant? He quickly decided that their treatment of him would define how he reacted to them. That decision made he turned over and went to sleep, missing the warmth of the body he had spent the weekend curled up in bed with.

The rest of the week went by without event. Harry spent Thursday night with his parents; it had become their custom to have Thursday night as 'Family Night'. Remus and Sirius had come by after dinner for drinks and talking. Harry and Lily had stuck to coffee while the men had one glass of wine, none of them being really heavy drinkers, only occasional. It was nice to have time together like this in Harry's opinion.

At twenty nine minutes past seven Harry and Severus both touched the portkey that had been sent upon receipt of their RSVP to take them to Malfoy Manor.

At exactly seven thirty the portkey activated. The whole world spun as they were removed from the school and deposited at their destination.

Harry managed to land on his feet outside the doors to the Manor but his stomach rolled, he bent over slightly to get rid of the nausea.

"Are you alright?" Severus was concerned.

Once he righted himself a few seconds later Harry nodded. "I am fine. Portkeys just don't agree with me." 'I really hate portkeys.' He thought with a mental shudder.

His partner waited a couple of seconds, till Harry looked back to normal, then he followed up with, "Shall we proceed then?"

Harry smiled faintly, "Lead the way."

They were met at the door by the three Malfoys. Severus strode over to them. He shook Lucius' and Draco's hand and hugged Narcissa, kissing her on the cheek before stepping back and introducing Harry. "May I introduce Harry Evans, my lover."

Narcissa was the first to step forward, "A pleasure to meet you, Harry dear. Severus has not brought a lover to a gathering of ours in quite some time. I am glad to see that change." She took his hand in hers and, aware of pureblood tradition, Harry lightly placed a kiss upon her knuckles.

After she had stepped back her husband and son came forward in turn, shaking hands with Severus' guest. Harry did not like how Lucius' eyes seemed to inspect him and he liked even less how Draco's hand lingered in Harry's and how his eyes had scanned over him, in a completely different way to his father's.

The youngest Malfoy looked different to the one Harry had last seen. This Draco was well dressed, extremely well presented, with an air of confidence and more than just a touch of arrogance. Though not necessarily bad arrogance, just the knowledge of his place in his world. He could have whatever he wanted and he knew it. However, there was a touch of humour in his eyes. The last time Harry had seen Draco Malfoy had been in battle. He had been dirty, as they all had been, and there was nothing but desperation in his eyes as they had fought, Harry had more experience and was more powerful than his old school rival. He had never stood a chance to develop in that world. Harry was rather glad that here Draco had a chance to be a better person, to be whatever he had the potential to be.

Harry inclined his head to the older man. "I believe I am to wish you a happy birthday, Mr Malfoy."

"Thank you, Mr Evans. I do hope that you enjoy my party." The silky voice replied, almost exactly as Harry remembered from his school days.

But luckily, more guests began to come in through the doors requiring the host's attention so Harry and Severus moved further into the manor and joined the guests who were already there in the ballroom. It was a large room, beautifully and tastefully decorated. There was a small orchestra playing in the far corner of the room. People were milling about, stopping to talk to others they were acquainted with.

Severus directed Harry over to the refreshments where he ordered them two glasses of wine. After he handed Harry's over to him he spoke, "I am glad you accompanied me tonight. It would have been unbearably boring otherwise."

"Then I shall do my utmost to keep you occupied tonight." Harry replied with a playful smirk.

The other man took a sip of wine to cover his smile.

They stood with their backs to the wall, watching the people around them for some time. Severus pointing out those he knew to Harry. He had him in stitches with some of the things he was saying. For example, "Mrs Lestrange, your godfather's cousin, has the most infamous affairs behind her husband's back. Indeed her husband is the only one who does not know of them. I heard it told that once she had a man right in the same room as her husband, only a thin screen separating them."

Harry found it odd that the woman, Bellatrix Lestrange, a witch he had hated almost more than Voldemort, did not look at all insane. Her face was not ravaged, her hair well maintained. She seemed normal, if slightly unbound by social conventions. Finally, Harry let go of the hate he had kept in his heart for five years. He could never forget what Bellatrix Lestrange had done, but that woman was dead, even if she was not he could never get to her and it would only poison his heart to hold on to his anger and hate. Sirius was alive and well. He had married Remus Lupin and was living happily with his husband and friends. He could let go.

He downed the rest of his wine and turned to his lover, "How long will this party go on for?"

Severus smirked. "We may only leave after all the speeches are done at the earliest. Just after midnight I would imagine our departure will not be noticed."

The green eyed man nodded.

Narcissa Malfoy glided gracefully over to the two men. "My dear Mr Evans, would you mind terribly if I asked to borrow Severus for a dance?"

Harry smiled at her, unable to dislike the charming woman. "Certainly Mrs Malfoy. Go ahead."

With a parting smile at Harry Severus took Narcissa Malfoy's hand and led her to the dance floor, twirling her expertly.

Once Harry was certain that Severus was not looking at him he quietly slipped out of the room and located the library using a nifty locator spell Moody had taught him.

Once he was in the library, and boy was it a library, there must have been thousands of books there, he quickly summoned the book he wanted. "Accio Tom Riddle's diary."

Nothing happened apart from a chest of drawers shaking. Harry should have known it would not be that easy. He strode over to the cabinet and scanned it. There was a minor dark spell over it, protecting its contents. Fortunately, it was one which he was quite familiar with. It was a spell that his Snape had taught him his first session as a way to keep things hidden from others. He favoured it above many others because it only had one counter curse. One Harry knew.

Once he had cast the counter curse he was free to open the door and peer inside. There were a number of dark arts books but Harry was not interested in the contents of the Malfoy's library. Knowledge was knowledge; it was the way it was used that made it light or dark in his opinion. The diary was easy to spot. He recognised it instantly despite it not having any identifying features. He had dreamt of that diary for years after the events in the Chamber of Secrets.

Taking the diary out of the cabinet Harry checked around to see if anyone had entered the room while he was occupied. He was still alone but would have to work fast. He didn't want to run the risk of Severus noticing his absence. He placed it on the floor before casting a charm to make it look like the diary was still there, closing the door to the cabinet and re-casting the curse. The Malfoys would never know he had been there, he even masked his own magical signature by blending it with the inherent magic lingering in the room. Unless for some reason they actually went looking for the diary they would never notice its disappearance.

Bent over the diary Harry took a vial out from his pocket. He had collected this sample of Hamila's venom earlier that day, knowing what he would try to do tonight if he had the chance. He removed the stopper from the vial and poured it over the diary, watching as the venom burnt a hole straight through the pages, just like last time with the fang. Smoke rose from the tattered book, testament to the fragment it had once held. Harry burnt the rest of the diary before banishing the ashes and making his way back to the ballroom.

He was just in time, Severus seemed to have been looking for him for a few minutes.

"Where have you been?" He inquired.

"Just went to the bathroom and admired the house on the way back."

Severus simply nodded, taking what he said as truth. "Would you care for another drink?"

"I'd love one, thanks Sev." He replied with a sigh.

While Severus was occupied Draco Malfoy came up to Harry and began speaking. "You came here with my godfather, didn't you?" It was not a question.

Harry nodded anyway. "I did."

"But you could have almost anyone you wanted with your looks. Why are you with an old man? It is because of his Mastery because I can assure you being his lover will not get you yours any quicker," Here his voice dropped to a purr, "There are others that would suit you better than him. Younger men with better personalities and looks."

The younger of the two just looked at the other in disbelief. Was Draco Malfoy actually hitting on him? "Thank you. But Severus is the only one I want so it doesn't really matter who I could have."

His lover returned with their drinks and greeted his godson, though not as warmly as he had previously. He had seen Draco's hand touch Harry's arm in a rather intimate manor and observed Harry shake it off while the man spoke to him. 'How dare that pompous little upstart try to steal away my lover.' Severus may care for his godson but the man had inherited more than a few of his father's traits and barely any from his mother, Severus' oldest friend.

Once he had handed Harry his drink he put his now free hand onto the small of Harry's back and gave Draco a look. The blonde Slytherin nodded in acknowledgement of his defeat and retreated to try and chat up someone else.

The band began to play a new song. A waltz. Severus held out his hand and asked Harry to dance.

Nervously Harry agreed and took his lover's hand. He allowed himself to be directed to the dance floor but stood unsurely in front of Severus. The older man took his hands and placed them in the proper position and began to move them.

Severus noticed that Harry seemed tense. "Is something the matter? Why are you so tense?"

"The last time I tried this it didn't go so well."

After seeing the look on Harry's face he was curious. "What happened?"

The answer was stilted as Harry tried to concentrate on not standing on his partner's feet. "Champion's Ball, fourth year. My date ended going off with someone else I was that bad a dancer."

"You're doing just fine now. I take it that dancing wasn't part of your training?"

Harry snorted. "Dancing? No. Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, duelling, healing, even a little elemental magic but certainly not dancing. And the only reason I'm doing fine is that your hand is on my back preventing me from moving the wrong way." There was a slight hint of panic in the tone.

This was something Severus had noticed in the last month or so. In social situations Harry's cool facade dropped slightly and if you looked carefully you could spot the panic in his eyes.

He tried humour as a way to help his lover relax. "This is known as leading. Maybe that's why you failed before, you needed someone else to lead in an area you were inexperienced in."

Harry tried but failed to hold back the blush. He heard the inflection in the voice as surely as Severus had said something completely different. It was true that the older man was generally the one who instigated their sexual encounters as Harry was too nervous to. He was pretty new to it all. But he knew that Severus was going slow for him and was incredibly grateful to his lover for showing him all the things they could do together without actually having intercourse. He loved their 'sleepovers'.

They continued dancing, Severus leading Harry expertly, for some time; Until everyone's attention was drawn for the cake and speeches.

The stopped and made their way over to where the Malfoys were gathered at the other side of the room. The elder Malfoys stood on either side of their son, looking at him proudly. He was their darling son and today he truly became a man in their eyes. Eighteen may have been the age of majority but among the aristocracy twenty one was the more important age. It was the age where one became a 'man'.

Lucius Malfoy cleared his throat. 'How does he manage to do that elegantly?' Harry wondered absently. He'd never know.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate Draco's twenty-first birthday with us. It is indeed a great occasion. As is tradition within the Malfoy family upon reaching their true majority and proving themselves worthy the heir receives a token."

Here Lucius paused and removed a ring from his finger. He gazed at it for a brief moment before smiling and taking his son's hand. He slipped the ring onto his right ring finger. Then he spoke again, "I give you the family ring, my son. You are now truly the heir and upon my death the head of the family. With this ring comes access to certain family treasures that I am sure you will discover very soon. I have worn this ring since my own majority as had my father before me and his before him. I wish that I shall be here to witness you place that ring upon your own son's finger."

Draco looked at his right hand, unused to seeing a ring there, it felt heavy, foreign, but at the same time right. It had recognised his as the Malfoy heir. "Thank you father. I shall look forward to the day when I may be in your position."

The audience all applauded. Harry followed suit a couple of seconds later, hoping no one noticed. He realised that he was the only muggleborn here. Everyone else he recognised was pure-blooded. However, there were many faces he did not know.

When they stopped it was like a cue, house elves popped into the hall, four of the needed to support the massive cake created to commemorate the date.

It was a beautiful cake. Elegantly decorated in silver and green icing.

The elf that had not been carrying the cake now handed Draco a large silver knife. The young blonde moved to the table where they had placed the huge confection. With an even hand he sliced through the soft sponge, withdrew the knife and put it down on the platter.

Balloons dropped from the ceiling and lights flashed different colours for a minute. Harry thought that was rather muggle of them but of course said nothing.

Now apparently the formal part was over because the band began playing again and Draco took his mother to the dance floor. People resumed talking, eating, drinking and dancing once more.

Harry turned to his partner and commented, "So was that a traditional pureblood birthday celebration?"

The Potions Master nodded, "I believe so yes. Pretty much the same thing occurs at most. Each family has its own 'gift' though. My own was a crest rather than a ring but the meaning is the same. I would presume that now you are here your own parents will locate the Potter heir gift, which if I recall correctly is also a ring."

Harry paled slightly. That made Severus chuckle quietly. His lover really did not like fuss. The idea of having such a party as this was truly terrifying to the young man, yet he had lived through a war and never batted an eyelash. He was indeed an interesting creature. One that Severus was very interested in getting to understand more fully.

He took his partner back onto the dance floor to distract him. It seemed to be working if the slightly glazed look in Harry's eyes were any indication. But then again they were dancing quite close. The tango was indeed an intimate dance.

When he was dipped, for the second time, Harry took the opportunity to look around the hall. Many of the guests had already left for the night. Once Severus had brought him back up to face him he leaned in and whispered, "Can we go home now?"

With a sharp intake of breath at the tone Harry was using Severus nodded.

All that was left was to say goodnight to their hosts and then make their way to the entrance hall. A house elf met them at the door and handed them a portkey to return them to Hogwarts.

It took Harry a split second to recognise the elf, it was Dobby. He had not seen the elf in months. Once he had left Hogwarts Dobby had come with him to Grimmauld Place and appointed himself Mr Harry Potter sir's personal elf. Kreacher and Dobby had not got on well, it was needless to say. One day Dobby had gone after Kreacher when he disappeared and never came back. Harry had mourned the loss of the loyal little elf, even if he was a little overenthusiastic at times he always made Harry smile.

With a touch of melancholy in his smile Harry thanked the elf for the portkey and carried on through the doors. He just hoped that this Lucius Malfoy treated his elves better than the one he had known.

Without consciously deciding upon it the two men found themselves outside the portrait that guarded Severus' rooms. After speaking the password they went in.

Harry sat down on the couch while Severus went to fetch a couple of drinks from the cabinet.

"I thought tonight went well, don't you?" He commented from the couch as Severus bent down, giving Harry a chance to ogle his lover's arse.

"Definitely, as well as such things usually go. I enjoyed it more because you were in attendance though. Thank you for attending with me."

"No problem. I rather enjoyed myself as well."

Severus sat down beside his lover and apprentice on the couch and handed him his drink. They continued to talk about different parts of the party for a few minutes. Severus was rather surprised that Harry had never attended a birthday party like it.

"But you forget that we were at war, Sev. Once we left Hogwarts I was...isolated from most everyone. Birthday parties weren't exactly on my to-do list, even if my friend's had thrown one." Harry reminded his lover with a smile. It was exactly this fact, that this Severus had not lived through the second war, that made him just what Harry had always wanted.

The way that Harry spoke of his previous life always shocked Severus. He was so calm, so accepting of everything that had happened to him. He was in awe of the inner strength of the man. Most others would use their experiences as leverage over others but not Harry. Harry would not even tell people of his past unless he felt it was necessary. 'A true Gryffindor,' Severus thought fondly, 'yet I have seen his Slytherin side. He is not to be underestimated.' In all, Harry was a good match for the Potions Master.

After a few more minutes talking about wizarding tradition Severus deliberately set his drink down on the coffee table before them and gently cupped Harry's face in his hands.

The younger man stilled instantly. Waiting, as Severus' lips descended upon his own.

A rather loud moan sounded in the otherwise quiet room. Harry was embarrassed to realise that it emanated from himself. But after Severus ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth he decided that he didn't care. This felt too good.

They had already removed their outer formal robes so Severus began to undo the buttons on the shirt Harry was wearing.

This was not something new to Harry so he quickly followed suit and attacked the buttons on the navy blue shirt Severus had donned.

"Shall we move to the bedroom?" Severus asked in a low voice.

A smile and Harry getting up whilst taking his hand was his answer. He happily followed.

Once they reached the bedroom Severus and Harry removed their pants before moving to the large four poster bed. Snape lay down on top of Harry.

Their groins ,clad in their boxers, crushed together happily. Passion consumed them as they kissed and thrust against each other. They came explosively.

Severus rolled off of Harry and lay beside him, both breathing heavily.

Harry felt the sticky-ness coating his stomach and genitals and silently and wandlessly cast a cleaning charm over the two of them.

Severus felt the soft charm wash over him, removing all traces of their exertions. The way that Harry so casually displayed his level of power unconsciously in times like these. He didn't say anything, he understood that Harry did not mean to show off, he simply didn't realise that what he could do most people couldn't even imagine being capable of. It was so natural of him to use his magic.

Privately Severus was actually rather impressed that he had a lover who was so powerful. Instead he rolled over and kissed his bedmate deeply.

"I am glad you appeared here, Harry."

"So am I."


	10. Author's Note

Hey guys

I am really sorry but I don't think I can finish this fic. I simply don't have the time and to be honest I think any talent I may have had for writing has passed, I don't 'feel' the story anymore like I used to. So I am going to put it up for adoption. If no one picks it up then I'll most likely remove it from the site as I hate reading fics that haven't been updated in ages and are never updated again and refuse to let mine become another one of them.

I feel terrible and have spent weeks thinking about this while trying to carry on with it but if I did manage to finish it the standard wouldn't be what you readers deserve because my heart isn't in it anymore.

Should anyone be interested in taking up this fic please contact me. I have notes written for what I had planned of the rest of the fic that I would like to send with it but obviously you'd be free to take it where you wanted.

Thanks to everyone who reads this and who has enjoyed the previous chapters. And thanks in advance to anyone who might wish to carry it on

Iago

xx


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